Penelope's Halloween Hi-jinks
by BibleBeauty26
Summary: Penelope is thrilled to be celebrating Halloween with the Ant Hill Mob and all her friends! Unfortunately, the Hooded Claw, hoping to do her in again, is determined to make sure Penelope's Halloween is all tricks and no treats. Will the Claw get in the way of our heroine's plans? Will Penelope be able to stay safe this Halloween?
1. Halloween Plans and Perils Galore!

_When we last saw, Penelope, she was heading to the Pitstop Country Club to get things ready for the annual Halloween party!_

One chilly, but lovely October afternoon, Penelope Pitstop emerged out of Chuggaboom along with her ever-present protectors, the Ant Hill Mob he minute they arrived to the Country Club Penelope's late father owned.

"Can you fellas believe Halloween is only a couple little ole days away?" Penelope grinned and breathed in the fall air.

"I know." Clyde, the Ant Hill Mob's leader replied. "Time certainly does fly by."

"Duh, Penelope, remind me why we're here." Dum-Dum looked at Penelope.

"I promised we'd meet Peter Perfect and his mother to discuss what the plans are for the annual Halloween party this year." Penelope explained. "Peter's family is middle class so they promised to work alongside me this year.

 _And speaking of the Perfects, here's Peter Perfect now!_

Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob were about five steps down the country club hallway when they stopped and saw Peter Perfect, Penelope's boyfriend and competitor in the Wacky Races.

"Good afternoon, Pretty Penny." Peter kindly took Penelope's hands.

"Good afternoon, Peter." Penelope kissed him. "Are we on time, sugar?"

"A bit early but nonetheless we're glad to have you." Peter led Penelope and the Mob down the hall some more. "Come right with me. Mom's just waiting in the dining room. She was thinking we'd get some lunch and discuss what our Halloween party will be like this year."

"I'm glad we're getting lunch, I'm so hungry." Said Zippy.

Once they made it to the country club's dining room, Peter's mother, Priscilla Perfect, came up from the table and went up to her son and his friends. She was especially thrilled to see Penelope, who she saw as her own daughter since they first met.

"Oh Penelope, I'm so happy to see you again!" Priscilla hugged Penelope.

"I'm happy to see you again, as well." Penelope smiled. "Thanks ever so ever for helping with the annual Halloween party this year, Mrs. Perfect."

"Oh Penny, call me Priscilla."

"So, we were gonna talk about what our Halloween party plans are this year?" Clyde asked Priscilla.

"Yes indeed. And this year I'll be teaming up with both Peter and Penelope." Priscilla nodded. "Penelope has such a good taste in fashion and art, especially when it comes to holidays, and Peter has always enjoyed all holidays and parties since he was a boy, so I think they'll be perfect assets in helping with the Halloween festivities."

"My Mama and Dear Daddy have always taken holidays seriously, including Halloween" Said Penelope. "I always loved the parties and charity events they held around such special occasions."

"And my Dad, rest his soul too, was always the biggest holiday planner and even wrote lists of party themes and things needed for them a month or two early." Peter mentioned. "I've certainly learned a few things from him, especially holiday planning and organizing."

"If any one of you needs help in getting things prepped for the party, please don't hesitate to let us know." Clyde told Penelope, Peter and Priscilla.

"We're always happy to help!" Softy sobbed.

"Yeah, happy to help…" Snoozy echoed through snores.

 _After a delicious lunch, our heroes are back on their feet!_

After lunch, Penelope, Peter and Priscilla walked to the ballroom, the Ant Hill Mob behind them. They all saw some of the staff setting the ballroom up and hanging a variety of Halloween decorations, including ghosts, pumpkins, and skeletons.

"I do declare! Everything's coming along fab-boo-lous!" Penelope loved the sights of the ballroom and the decorations.

"I agree!" Pockets nodded.

"You've outdone yourselves again, as always." Clyde complimented the staff on their decorating.

"Thanks everyone!" One of the staff, Drake answered back as he finished tying a bat to the ceiling.

"You know the decorations are not too scary or grotesque compared to what some people use on Halloween nowadays." Penelope looked around with everyone else. "Certainly not my taste, and my family would never approve."

"Neither would mine." Peter agreed. "Either way, I'm looking forward to sharing Halloween with you."

"I'm always happy to have little ole you, darling."

Suddenly, a pumpkin-headed scarecrow moving in and out of a coffin caught made Penelope, Peter and Priscilla freeze in their tracks.

"Wow! This prop sure looks realistic." Penelope curiously looked at the scarecrow coming in and out of the coffin.

"I don't remember buying this prop for the party, and it's kind of strange how it's moving around like that." Priscilla looked with confusion. "I don't think anyone pressed a button."

"Maybe it's motion activated." Penelope wondered. "With today's use of technology and little ole animatronics you'll never know."

Suddenly, the scarecrow grabbed Penelope and shoved her in the coffin. Two additional sets of hands closed the coffin door and locked it. Priscilla fainted at the sight of the unexpected capture but Peter caught her before she could hit the ground.

 _Uh oh, that scarecrow prop was too realistic…wait a minute, that's no scarecrow! Who could it be?_

The scarecrow gave a quick spin, and out came Penelope's archenemy, the Hooded Claw.

 _Yikes! It's the Hooded Claw, that villain of villains!_

"At your Halloween service." The Hooded Claw laughed.

"Hey! What are we, chopped liver?" The Bully Brothers frowned.

 _And the Bully Brothers, too…_

"That's better." The Bully Brothers said in unison.

Priscilla started to wake up from her fainting spell.

"So, you're the Hooded Claw Penelope and my son tell me about!" She gasped.

"The one and only, madam." The Hooded Claw replied. "I'm the real deal and I'm here to do Pitstop in again."

"How dare you sneak in here uninvited and grab Penelope the way you did!" Priscilla scowled.

"Let go of Penelope at once, you old brute!" Peter hissed at the Claw.

"Yes, get me out of here you fiend!" Penelope yelled through the coffin.

"Get used to it Pitstop. You'll be spending the rest of eternity in there once you're finished." The Claw banged his fist on the coffin to stop Penelope from yelling. "Bully Brothers, lift that coffin up and let's get out of this joint."

"Right, Claw." The Bullies lifted up the coffin Penelope was in.

"It's not very comfortable in there!" Penelope complained.

"I'm serious, Hooded Claw. Let Penny go and don't lay even a finger on her!" Peter growled.

"Yeah, give her back at once!" Clyde came up to the Hooded Claw with the rest of the Mob.

"Blast. Interference…" The Hooded Claw frowned. "Not on my watch."

The Claw took out a small explosive from his pocket.

"Farewell, everyone!" The Claw sneered. "Sorry I can't stay for too long, but Penelope and I have plans!"

He then threw the explosive to the floor, creating a smokescreen that blinded everyone and made them cough. Once the coughing stopped, Peter, Priscilla and the Ant Hill Mob looked around and discovered that The Hooded Claw, the Bully Brothers and Penelope were no longer in the ballroom.

"Penelope! Penelope where are you, darling?" Peter looked around.

"I'm afraid we lost her, Pete." Clyde huffed. "That Hooded fiend disappeared with her and didn't give us a chance to interfere."

"Well we can't let that rat get away with harming Penny. We have to find her!"

"And we will find her." Clyde told everyone else. "Priscilla, you wait here. The boys and I will get Chuggaboom and have him take us to where Penelope might be."

"Boys, are you sure you'll be alright?" Priscilla asked, slightly concerned for the Mob and Peter.

"We'll be fine, mom, but Penelope won't be fine if we don't get to her soon!" Peter insisted. "We'll be back with Penelope safe and sound!"

"Alright everyone, let's get going!" Clyde demanded. "We've got a gal to save!"

"Right, Clyde!" The other Mobsters answered.

The men soon scattered out of the country club and into Chuggaboom, setting off on their trek to find Penelope and rescue her.

 _I do hope our guys find where Penelope is! Heaven knows what fiendish plans the Hooded Claw might have for her, especially around Halloween!_


	2. Candy is Dandy, but Dangerous!

_What does that Halloween hair-raising fiend have in store for our gal in this old Halloween candy factory?_

"Isn't it obvious, pal?" The Hooded Claw sneered. "Halloween candy, only she's not going to eat it, she's going to be it!"

"Alright, Claw…" Penelope frowned, tied to the conveyor belt of the candy factory. "What's your plan for me in this little ole Halloween candy factory?"

"Glad you asked, Pitstop. You're gonna get the treatment in the very place for the best Halloween candy" The Hooded Claw began to explain his latest peril to Penelope. "If you'll notice, that conveyor belt you're tied on top of is saved for the chocolate after it's poured on. Once the conveyor belt starts moving, you'll travel all the way to that big moving blade!"

"Wait, you mean?" Penelope looked back at the blade, which was moving up and down.

"That's right, Pitstop. You'll know exactly how chocolate bars feel!" The Hooded Claw laughed.

"I love chocolate as much as the next person does, but this is downright overdoing it."

"Just be thankful I didn't dip you in any chocolate." The Claw grinned. "I want you to go, but I want you to look your best when you go! And now it's time for me to go!"

From there, the Hooded Claw turned the switch of the conveyor belt on, and Penelope was moving steadily towards the blade.

"Farewell, Pitstop!" The Claw laughed. "By the time the blade does its work, you'll be the first human candy bar!"

After he laughed evilly, he turned to leave.

 _Oh no! Will a full-size human candy bar end up being Penelope's final Halloween costume this year? Or can the Ant Hill Mob, Peter and Chuggaboom find their favorite gal in time to spare her a bittersweet ending?_

At the same time, the Ant Hill Mob and Peter were in Chuggaboom, hoping to find where the Hooded Claw had taken Penelope.

"We'll never find Penelope around here!" Yak-Yak chuckled.

"Oh yes we will." Clyde replied. "We just need to use our senses. Dum-Dum, I'm serious!"

"Duh, what are senses?" Dum-Dum scratched his head.

"Apparently something you'll never have!" Clyde insulted Dum-Dum.

"Cut the arguing, men!" Peter scolded the Mob. "This is no time for messing around. The sooner we find Penelope the better!"

"Duh, sorry Peter." Dum-Dum answered sheepishly.

All of a sudden, Snoozy's nose caught a strange scent.

"Anyone else smell…chocolate?" He snored.

"How can you think of chocolate during a rescue mission, Snoozy!?" Clyde scowled at Snoozy.

"No Clyde, he's right." Zippy said. "That's the smell of chocolate in the air."

"That, and all sorts of sweets." Pockets sniffed the candy scented aroma in the air. "See for yourself, Clyde."

The sweet scent eventually caught Clyde's nose, too.

"I believe you guys now." He muttered. "Let's check to see where it's coming from, Chuggaboom!"

"R-r-right!" Chuggaboom dashed ahead on the trail to find Penelope.

 _And off our guys go on the candy trail, and I'm not just saying that because it's Halloween! Hang in there, Penelope! Help is on the way!_

Meanwhile, Penelope was halfway toward the blade as it moved up and down, ready to slice anything, even flesh and bone, in half.

"And the Hooded Claw didn't even let me try those free candy samples!" Penelope complained. "That's just not fair!"

 _The good news, Penelope, is that your men found out where you are and will be here to get you out soon!_

It did not take long for Chuggaboom to arrive at the candy factory.

"Well everyone, this explains why we could smell all that candy." Clyde told everyone as they quickly got out of Chuggaboom.

"Hey, it's the old candy place!" Pockets discovered. "Isn't this where the best Halloween candy comes from?"

"It sure is." Peter replied.

"It reminds of those chocolate caramel nut clusters I always got trick-or-treating!" Softy sobbed.

"Yeah, trick or treating…" Snoozy echoed through his snores.

"Well we're not here to buy any candy, just FYI." Clyde reminded the rest of the Mob.

"Aww…" They groaned.

"Don't you dare complain!" Clyde scolded them. "We came here to save Penelope! Now focus!"

Suddenly, they could hear strange noises coming from inside the factory.

"Shh, it sounds like something's going on inside." Peter observed. "Come on, let's see what it could be."

Peter and the Ant Hill Mob looked through one of the windows of the factory, and they gasped the moment they saw Penelope tied on the conveyor belt heading toward the giant blade.

 _From the looks of it, Penelope's getting closer and closer to the giant blade! Please do hurry, boys!_

Peter tapped on the window, getting Penelope's attention. She was delighted to see him and the Ant Hill Mob again.

"We'll be in real soon, and from there we'll save you!" Peter called through the window.

But Penelope could not hear anything from inside.

"Sorry, Peter, but I can't hear you!" She called back.

Peter breathed on the glass window and wrote out 'We'll be in to save you' on it. Despite the fact that she was getting close to the blade, Penelope couldn't help but smile at Peter's romantic and heroic deeds.

"All we need to do now is just get in there and grab Penelope and get her out of this place." Clyde commanded everyone. "Through that door, quick!"

"No problem!" Peter grinned with determination to rescue and protect Penelope.

When he tried to open the door, it wouldn't budge.

"I can't get it open…" He kept trying hard to open the door. "It's locked tight!"

"And let's just keep it that way…" The Hooded Claw laughed evilly as he held the key to the factory.

"Now what are we gonna do?" Zippy asked.

"We're just going to have to break down that door!" Clyde answered. "Quick Pockets, get the emergency axe out!"

"One emergency axe coming out." Pockets took out an axe from his suit pocket.

"Here, Pete, you have more strength than any one of us." Clyde handed Peter the axe. "Take it from here!"

Peter graciously accepted the axe and used it to break down the door of the candy factory.

 _Give it all you've got, Peter! Penelope is this close to being sliced in half!_

Penelope was nearing the blade, but she did not look the least bit afraid or nervous.

 _But Penelope, what's with that smile? You're just about to be sliced in half!_

"Maybe, but what the Hooded Claw didn't take into account is that little ole bag of marshmallows next to the conveyor belt." Penelope noticed a bag of marshmallows lying on the ground next to the conveyor belt.

 _What would a bag of marshmallows be doing here, Penelope?_

"For those little ole marshmallow-filled chocolate squares I've always enjoyed, of course." Penelope smiled. "And it just might help me in my little ole predicament. If I can just reach that bag, those soft, sticky marshmallows just might stop the blade!"

Though she was tied up, she was able to reach down and pick up the bag of marshmallows. Once she did, she sat up and placed the bag behind her. Then, she spread her tied-up arms from behind, hoping to stretch the ropes a bit. The blade instantly cut the ropes binding her and when it got into the marshmallows, it could not go back up because it was stuck. The marshmallows worked like a charm.

 _Those soft, sticky marshmallows did the trick! Penelope is saved!_

"I'm free! More importantly, I'm safe!" Penelope hopped off the conveyor belt and untied the ropes binding her legs and ankles.

Just then, her head turned at the sound of the door being broken down by the axe Peter was using. Both Peter and the Ant Hill Mob came inside.

 _And look who's here, too!_

"Oh thank heavens!" Softy cried. "Penelope's safe!"

"I guess we didn't have to come after all!" Yak-Yak giggled.

"I'm glad you fellas did come, anyway." Penelope murmured with a warm smile as she went to the boys. "It's great to know you come every time, even if I do make it out by my little ole self."

"Why wouldn't we come, Penelope?" Peter kissed her forehead. "We love you more than anything."

"I love y'all too, darlings."

"What next, Penelope? Peter?" Clyde asked.

"We have to get back to the country club as soon as possible." Penelope told the Mob.

"My mother's probably worried sick about us by now, especially Penelope." Peter concluded. "Plus we have to arrange our plans for the Halloween party. We only have a few days."

"Well in that case, let's get going!" Clyde barked.

"Right, Clyde!" The other Mobsters replied in unison as they, Penelope and Peter loaded back into Chuggaboom.

"Blast!" The Hooded Claw glared, but then smiled again. "But no matter. Halloween is in a few days, and I'll make sure Pitstop's Halloween is all tricks and no treats!"

 _Alas, our heroes made it back to the country club!_

After Clyde parked Chuggaboom, Penelope, Peter and the Ant Hill Mob raced into the country club to find Priscilla.

"Priscilla! We're back!" Penelope called. "And I made it out of the Hooded Claw's trap safe!"

Priscilla arrived in front of the heroes and was relieved to see that they made it to the country club unharmed.

"Thank heavens you're okay!" Priscilla hugged Penelope once more. "Are any of you hurt by chance?"

"No, mom. We're alright." Peter reassured his mother. "By the time the boys and I came inside the factory she was trapped inside, she had already escaped the trap."

"All it took was a couple of little ole marshmallows!" Penelope giggled.

"I've yet to hear of stories of one escaping traps with sweets like marshmallows, but please do tell me all about it." Priscilla was curious.

"And we still need to go over our plans for the Halloween party." Clyde reminded her.

"Oh yes, come right inside to the meeting room." Priscilla led Penelope, Peter, and the Ant Hill Mob inside to the meeting room. "We have so much to go over."

"Penelope, what's our plan for tomorrow?" Clyde asked Penelope.

"Tomorrow we are going to pick out our pumpkins." Penelope discussed her plans with the Ant Hill Mob. "After that, we going to go home, get our pumpkins carved and get started on painting mine for the contest coming up."

"Neat!" The Ant Hill Mob was excited to be spending time with Penelope.

"Peter, would you like to come?" Penelope invited Peter to join her and the Mob for their trip.

"I'm afraid I'll have to miss it this year." Peter shook his head. "I'll be on a hunting trip with my brother and maternal grandfather. This is the only week they'll be home until Christmas."

"We understand, darling. I bet it'll be great seeing your brother and grandfather!"

"Thank you, Penny. It will indeed be great. But right now we've got ourselves a meeting."

"Yes, of course." Said Penelope as she took part in going over Halloween party plans with her friends and her motherly figure.


	3. Pumpkin Farm Peril

_And so the next afternoon, Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob drive to the local pumpkin farm in search for the perfect pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns and Penelope's contest entry!_

The next day, after a good lunch, Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob drove Chuggaboom down the road to the local pumpkin farm in town. During the ride, they couldn't help but admire the fall foliage in the village.

"Aren't the leaves just absolutely beautiful this month?" Softy sobbed.

"They sure are, Softy." Penelope replied. "October is certainly my favorite color."

"We're almost to the farm, everyone." Clyde told the others. "Just straight ahead. One more mile."

"Goodie!" Penelope was excited to find the right pumpkin to enter in the upcoming contest.

 _One mile later, our heroes finally arrive at the pumpkin farm!_

The minute Chuggaboom made it to the farm, Penelope and the Mob excitedly ran out and looked around the farm.

"Well, fellas." Penelope was all smiles as she looked around. "This is it!"

"Wow! So many fabulous things for us to do other than getting pumpkins!" Pockets was amazed. "There's even a corn maze and farm animals!"

"We'll check everything out as soon as we get settled and we meet with the owners of this little ole farm." Penelope told the Mob.

"Sounds good Penelope, but who are the owners of this farm?" Clyde wondered.

"Yeah, who Penelope?" Zippy asked.

"You'll see." Penelope led the Mob straight to the barn.

Once they reached the barn, Penelope waved to the owners of the farm. The owners were a sleeping hillbilly and his pet bear. Penelope knew them as fellow competitors and friends from the Wacky Races.

"Luke! Oh Luke!" Penelope called to him. "Rise and shine, sugar! You too, Blubber!"

"Huh, huh?" Luke was startled when he first woke up, but after looking around for a bit, he settled down.

"Oh dear, I hope I didn't frighten you, or Blubber…" Penelope felt bad.

Blubber Bear was blubbering a bit, but Luke was calm and content.

"Nah, not me." Luke shook his head. "Blubber on the other hand is a different story."

It was then that Luke recognized both Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob.

"Why, pretty Penny Pitstop!" He smiled. "Long time no see!"

"You too, Luke." Penelope went to hug him and Blubber.

"And fellers, how have you been?" Luke asked the Ant Hill Mob. "Staying out of trouble?"

"You'd better believe it, Luke." Clyde replied. "So you're the owner of this old farm here?"

"Sure am! My great grand-pappy, rest his soul, left it for me." Luke explained. "When I first got the farm from great grand-pappy after he died, I decided to leave Arkansas with Blubber to start this thing called agriculture. After settling down on this here land, I got me a whole bunch of animals and plants, including corn fields and pumpkins for the fall. Everyone, even them city folks, stop over every year to get some fresh Jackie Lanterns and to go through the corn field, which I turned into a maze."

Penelope and the boys were intrigued by Luke's history of owning the farm.

"How ever so neat, Luke!" Penelope gave Blubber a gentle scratch behind his ears. "Before we see your pumpkins, may we see your animals, please?"

"You sure can, Penny." Luke offered. "You and the boys, both."

Luke whistled for one of his farm animals.

"Roscoe, here boy!"

Out came Luke's sheepdog, Roscoe, a black and white Border Collie wearing a green bandana. Roscoe went to give everyone kisses.

"Oh, isn't he so handsome?" Penelope giggled at Roscoe licking her as she tried to pet him.

"Duh, he's kinda slobbery, but that tickles!" Dum-Dum laughed as Roscoe licked his face too.

"That's just Roscoe's way of saying 'hi' and that he likes you!" Luke pet Roscoe when he came back to him. "He not only rounds up the animals, true to his sheepdog training, but he also protects this farm from thieves and unwanted visitors. Even them teenagers breaking curfew don't stand a chance against him. Come along, I'll show you the rest of my barnyard buddies!"

Luke led everyone else inside the barn. Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob admired all of Luke's horses, cows, sheep and even cats. They even got cups of food to feed them.

"Oh, Luke, what darling animals you have!" Penelope stroked one of the horses and fed her.

"Here, kitty, kitties!" Dum-Dum was playing with the barn kittens.

"One of my cows just had herself a calf this past week." Luke told everyone else. "Follow me and I'll introduce you."

The heroes soon reached another area in the barn, where they saw a mother cow laying with her newborn calf.

"Aww!" They loved the sight of the cow family.

"This here is Milky Way and her baby, Cow Belle!" Luke introduced the heroes to the cows.

"Milky Way and Cow Belle, huh?" Penelope bent down to stroke Milky Way, the mother cow.

"That's right." Luke nodded.

"And little Cow Belle is so cute!" Penelope almost did not want to leave the little calf.

"That's not all we've got, Penny." Luke led them outside. "I'll show you the rest of the critters I've got!"

When everyone went outside the barn, they saw goats, pigs, geese and ducks in their pens.

"Even more cute little fellas out here!" Penelope loved feeding the animals and petting them.

"Got any bread for the ducks and geese, Pockets?" Clyde asked Pockets.

"I sure do! One loaf of bread for ducks and geese coming up!" Pockets took out a loaf of bread from his suit pockets.

"Just one or two slices will be enough for them, boys." Penelope took some pieces of bread and fed them to the ducks and geese, who happily ate them all up and quacked and honked in gratitude.

"You're welcome, little guys!" Softy wept.

"Yeah, you're welcome…" Snoozy echoed through snores.

"What other fun thing should we do, Penelope?" Yak-Yak chuckled.

"I was thinking that this whole little ole area looks like a perfect spot to play hide-and-seek!" Penelope suggested.

"Sure, Penelope." The Mobsters agreed.

"But who should count first?" Clyde asked.

"Let's let Penelope count first." Zippy said. "After all, she is a lady."

"Oh, Zippy, you're too cute…" Penelope blushed and giggled. "Okay, I'll count to twenty and you boys find places to hide!"

"Right, Penelope!" The Ant Hill Mob answered in unison as they scattered off to find places in and out of the barn to hide while Penelope started counting.

 _This barn's full of great hiding spots! Better find some good ones, boys, before Penelope gets done counting!_

The Ant Hill Mob ran inside the barn, searching for some good hiding places. Before long, Penelope finished counting.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Penelope yelled with excitement as she dashed into the barn.

Penelope went inside the barn and noticed how quiet and empty it was. Suddenly, she flinched at the sound of something moving in a large pile of hay.

"Could it be one of the boys, an animal, or… the Hooded Claw?" Penelope wondered.

She turned around and headed straight to the area where the bail pile of hay was. Out of the blue, two hands popped out of the pile and grabbed Penelope's ankle, dragging her into the hay.

 _Oh no! Those hands must belong to the Hooded Claw!_

After she poked her head out of the hay to catch her breath, she heard the sound of laughter. Fortunately, it was not the laughter of the Hooded Claw.

"Gotcha good, Penelope!" The laugh belonged to Yak-Yak.

The other Mobsters popped out of the hay where they were hiding.

"There you are, fellas!" Penelope laughed. "And yes, you certainly got me good!"

"Phew, you're not mad…" Dum-Dum sighed in relief.

"Why would I be? This was a clever little ole Halloween trick!"

"That's why I love Halloween!" Yak-Yak giggled. "It's the best time for pranks!"

"And I'll bet this won't be his first Halloween prank…" Clyde said. "Anyway Penelope. Since you found us, who should count next?"

"Oh, oh!" Dum-Dum raised his hand in excitement. "I'll go, I'll go!"

"Alright, Dum-Dum." Penelope chose him to count next. "Just relax now, and you can count next."

"Good luck with counting and finding us, Dum-Dum." Clyde muttered with sarcasm.

"Gee, thanks Clyde!"

"You're gonna need it."

"I say give him a chance to…challenge himself." Penelope grinned with patience. "Remember, Dum-Dum, you have to keep your eyes covered when you count. No peeking."

"Duh, right Penelope." Dum-Dum agreed.

As he started counting, the others scattered off in separate directions to hide, but he uncovered his eyes in the middle of counting.

"We said no peeking, you dum-dum!" Clyde frowned at him.

"Duh, sorry Clyde." Dum-Dum answered sheepishly before covering his eyes and counting again.

 _And where are you gonna hide, Penelope?_

"In this little ole corn maze, of course." Penelope smirked. "Dum-Dum will never find me in here."

 _Very clever, Penelope! That Dum-Dum, or anyone in particular, will have a hard time finding you in the corn maze!_

"That's the fun of it!" Penelope ran through the corn maze, attempting to hide in the corn.

It wasn't long before she found a little white tent in the corner of an area in the maze, so she walked over to it and went inside.

"This is even better than I thought." Penelope quietly twittered. "I doubt the boys will find little ole me in here."

"Yes, and I'll make sure they don't find little ole you at all!" A familiar, nasally voice said from behind her.

"The Hooded Claw!" Penelope turned and gasped at the sight of her archenemy.

"Right, Pitstop!" The Hooded Claw smirked as he zipped the tent shut. "I'm back, and I'm bad!"

"No little ole doubt about it." Penelope commented.

"Better hold on tight, princess, because this tent is actually a flying machine." The Claw went to the controls of the "flying machine" and started working them. "Designed to take you to your final destination!"

With a wicked laugh, he took the flying machine up into the air with Penelope and zoomed off.

 _And so, that hooded rat makes off with Penelope in his flying tent!_

Moments later, the Hooded Claw took Penelope to another area away from Luke's pumpkin farm. He and the Bully Brothers had her tied to a post they set up in a field.

"I suppose you're wondering why the Bully Brothers and I brought you out to this open field." Said the Hooded Claw as he looked his captive in the eyes.

"Actually I am rather curious." Penelope replied.

"If you'll notice, Pitstop, you're tied to a post out in the middle of this open field." The Hooded Claw began to explain his trap. "Across from you sitting on a platform is a cute little jack-o-lantern, which will be set on fire when I finish talking to you. After the jack-o-lantern is set on fire, the Bully Brothers will push that basketball tied to the branch of the first tree and cause it to push the giant paint can tied to the branch of the tree after that, which will then push the flaming pumpkin off the platform and straight to you!"

The Hooded Claw gave an evil laugh after his explanation, which immediately occurred to Penelope.

"So, I'm gonna end up like Ichabod Crane…like in the Sleepy Hallow story…"

"Exactly, Blondie!" The Claw grinned horribly. "You can say I'm doing the Headless Horseman's dirty work! Okay, Bully Brothers. Light the pumpkin!"

"Right, Claw." The Bully Brothers replied in unison as they lit the jack-o-lantern on fire with kerosene and a match.

"Farewell, Ichabod Pitstop!"

With another evil laugh, the Hooded Claw dashed.

 _Will Penelope suffer the same fate as Ichabod Crane? Or will the Ant Hill Mob make it in time to stop the Hooded Claw's headless horseman machinations?_

Meanwhile, the Ant Hill Mob were outside the pumpkin farm area searching for Penelope.

"This whole place is too big! We'll never find Penelope here!" Yak-Yak chortled.

"Cut the laughing and we just might be able to find her." Clyde replied. "Pockets, look to see if you've got an extendable stepstool."

"One extendable stepstool coming up!" Pockets took out a stepstool and gave it to Zippy. "Take it from here, Zippy."

"Will do, Pockets." Zippy took the stepstool. "Will do."

Zippy sped up to the top of Chuggaboom and adjusted the stepstool's height.

"Be careful not to fall, Zippy!" Clyde called to Zippy.

"I'll be careful, Clyde!" Zippy called back. "I'll be careful!"

After he made it to the top, Zippy used a telescope and gasped in shock by what he saw.

"There's Penelope, straight ahead!" Zippy alerted the rest of the Mob. "She's tied to that post in the field! And you know that story of Sleepy Hallow?"

"What about Penelope?" Clyde asked. "And what about Sleepy Hallow?"

"Let's just say Penelope is gonna turn out like Ichabod Crane." Zippy explained. "She's gonna get hit by a flaming pumpkin head."

"You can't be serious!" Clyde gasped.

"I never liked that Sleepy Hallow story!" Softy bawled. "It was just awful!"

"Yeah, awful…" Snoozy snored again.

"Penelope doesn't have to end up like Ichabod Crane if we save her, and that's just what we're going to do!" Clyde commanded. "Quick, Chuggaboom! Get going!"

"Oh yeah, oh yeah." Chuggaboom dashed off to where Penelope was located.

 _Hurry, fellows! Those Bully Brothers are just about ready to push that fiery pumpkin with the basketball and the paint can! Or, they would be if they weren't too busy quarreling._

"I wanna push the basketball!" The first Bully Brother pushed the other Bully Brother down.

"No, it should be me!" The second Bully Brother argued as he bopped the first Bully Brother in the head. "You always get to start Claw's traps and I don't!"

"He likes me best!"

"No, he likes me more!"

 _Well at least this will delay the trap._

"Thank goodness, too." Penelope took out her nail file. "While those rats are too busy bickering, I'll just get a head start on a getaway."

"You're the worst!" The first Bully Brother scowled at the second Bully Brother.

"No, you're the worst!" The second Bully Brother snapped.

"Let's face it, you're both the worst!" Clyde's voice caught the Bully Brothers' attention. "And you ain't setting Penelope on fire!"

"Oh great…" The Bullies muttered. "Who invited those clowns?"

"When it comes to my welfare, they're always invited." Penelope winked.

"Let's just get this trap over with, together." The first Bully Brother said.

"Right." The second Bully Brother agreed as they prepared to push the basketball tied to the first tree.

"I don't know how much time I'll have to cut myself free with this nail file, so I do hope you have a plan of your own, too." Penelope warned the Ant Hill Mob.

 _I hope so too, because the Bully Brothers are just inches away from starting the trap!_

"Quick, Zippy! Find a long firehose!" Clyde barked.

"Right, Clyde!" Zippy saluted as he ran to get a firehose.

Less than a second later, Zippy returned, holding a firehose.

"Good, now go back to the firehouse and turn on the hose!" Clyde said.

"I'm on it!" Zippy sped back to the firehouse and turned the wheel that started the firehose.

 _Oh please hurry, boys!_

The Bully Brothers pushed the basketball tied to the branch of the first tree, causing it to push the giant paint can tied to the branch of the second tree. The giant paint can pushed the burning jack-o-lantern, sending it flying towards Penelope. Suddenly, a large spray of water got the pumpkin away from Penelope and put out the fire.

 _Wow! What a save! The Ant Hill Mob put out the pumpkin's fire!_

The Ant Hill Mob then aimed the firehose at the Bully Brothers, washing them away from the field.

 _It looks like the Bully Brothers are all washed up, and Penelope is no longer all tied up!_

"I'm free!" Penelope finished untying her ropes with the nail file. "Thanks ever so much for your help too, fellas!"

"Anytime, Penelope." Pockets smiled.

"Come along Penelope. We still gotta find our pumpkins." Clyde reminded Penelope.

"I should've remembered." Penelope realized. "The contest is tomorrow! The sooner we hit the pumpkin patch the better. Come on, fellas!"

"Right behind you, Penelope!" The Ant Hill Mob followed Penelope back into Chuggaboom.

"Blast…" The Hooded Claw muttered. "You HAD to let those pint-sized pests come!"

"S-sorry, Claw…" Was all the soaked Bully Brothers could say before a sneeze came out of them as a result of a cold.

 _Now that Penelope is safe, our heroes can find their pumpkins!_

"Okay, fellas. Our pumpkins should be big enough to carve but not too big." Penelope told the boys. "Plus they have to look fresh and healthy."

They searched around the patch, looking for a healthy pumpkin to use for carving. They heard the sound of a dog barking, and when they turned, they saw Luke, Blubber, and Roscoe coming up to them.

"Hi, Luke!" Penelope waved to them.

"I was wondering what happened to you, Penny." Luke said, relieved that Penelope was unharmed.

"You know those stories I tell of the Hooded Claw?"

"Sure do, and boy are they exciting!" Luke nodded.

"Well, the Hooded Claw captured me again and tried to do me in with a flaming pumpkin!" Penelope told Luke. "Thankfully the Ant Hill Mob came to stop the fiend's trap from working."

"Penelope, you always have quite the adventures. How the Hooded Claw got past Roscoe is beyond me."

"Since I'm safe, I'm gonna let little ole bygones be bygones and find the right pumpkins."

Penelope walked a couple more steps to in the patch when she stopped and got on her knees.

"I think I found the right pumpkin to use in the little ole contest tomorrow." Penelope carefully picked up a medium-sized pumpkin and admired its appearance. "So clean, bright, vibrant, and the perfect size."

"We found our pumpkins, too, Penelope!" Clyde and his boys each held their own medium-sized pumpkins. "And they're not too heavy for us, too!"

"Let's pay for our pumpkins first, boys. After that we'll put them in Chuggaboom and head on home."

Penelope and the boys each took out some cash from their pockets and handed it to Luke.

"You really don't have to pay me, Penny." Luke offered.

"Actually, I should, Luke." Penelope politely insisted. "You can't run this farm without money."

"In that case, thank you Penny." Luke thanked Penelope. "Good luck in the contest tomorrow!"

"Bye, Luke! And thank y'all, too!" Penelope waved goodbye to Luke, Blubber and Roscoe as she and the Ant Hill Mob loaded into Chuggaboom.


	4. A Night of Pumpkins and Helping Hands!

_After a fun, successful trip to the pumpkin farm, our heroes are back at the Pitstop Manor to get their pumpkins carved and enjoy a sleepover before the contest tomorrow!_

That evening, the Ant Hill Mob was busy placing newspapers on the living room floor and placing their pumpkins on top of the papers. All seven of them were bare chested and only had their pajama pants on. They preferred sleeping that way at night and they did not want to ruin their usual suits. After all, carving pumpkins was a messy job.

"Zippy, get off!" Clyde barked. "You know Penelope won't appreciate your feet on the coffee table!"

"Okay, Clyde." Zippy got off the table. "Okay."

In came Penelope, who had on a pink short-sleeve shirt and lavender pajama pants with a glamorous pink rose pattern.

"Bad news fellas." She told them. "The pizza might be coming a little later than we planned."

"Aww!" The Ant Hill Mob groaned in disappointment.

"But why?" Dum-Dum frowned.

"Apparently the pizza boy has a flat tire." Penelope explained. "He won't be able to get here until it's fixed, and it could take some time. Sorry for the inconvenience, boys."

"Never mind the pizza right now, Penelope." Clyde replied. "Right now we've got some pumpkins to carve, and then we've gotta get yours ready for the contest tomorrow."

"Oh, yes! Got everything ready?"

"We sure do, Penelope!" Pockets nodded. "We've got our carvers, our markers for tracing our designs, a scooper for the insides, and little battery operated candles to light them up."

"Great!" Penelope grinned as she knelt down and joined the boys on the floor. "Let's get started! I'll help you fellas out before I work on my pumpkin for the contest."

"Thanks, Penelope!" Softy sobbed. "You're the best!"

"Are you kidding? I'm always happy to help!" Penelope replied.

While everyone was cutting the lids off and scooping out the insides into large mixing bowls, a thought came to Clyde's mind.

"Say Penelope, have you spoken to Peter or Priscilla about the party lately?" Clyde wondered. "Halloween's coming up fast."

"Good question, Clyde." Penelope answered. "Peter's away on his hunting trip today, but he was able to contact me in between. Plus I spoke to Priscilla, too. She's arranged our party food menu and the apple bobbing tank. Peter recently called the DJ and has gotten several people to work in the haunted house outside the party. Quite a few people from our time in the Wacky Races will be at the party!"

"Who, Penelope?" The Mob asked as their started marking and cutting the faces for the pumpkins.

"Well, Professor Pat Pending has put together some kind of gizmo that will allow him to work the lights and special effects of the party and the haunted house. The Gruesome Twosome will be there, because it's certainly not Halloween without them!"

"I agree, Penelope!" Zippy nodded.

"Me, too!" Yak-Yak chuckled.

"Dick Dastardly and Muttley will be there too!" Penelope mentioned.

"Eww, no!" The Mob frowned. "Not Dick Dastardly and Muttley!"

"Those cheaters!?" Pockets complained.

"They're a terrible influence." Clyde scowled. "All those times they've pulled nasty stunts on us."

"Now fellas." Penelope reasoned with the boys. "I know Dick Dastardly and Muttley have not been so nice to us during the races, but they still mean well. Dastardly's told me before that he's not the same villain the Hooded Claw is. He doesn't want me gone, just to lose a Wacky Race to me, that's all. And I won't lie, I love Muttley's soft side and he's a cutie!"

The Mob couldn't help but agree with Penelope about Muttley, but they did not fully trust Dastardly.

"Peter said Dastardly and Muttley will be working as actors in our haunted house." Penelope added.

"So they'll be scaring people in the haunted house?" Dum-Dum asked.

"They sure will."

"They'll no doubt be perfect at that." Clyde thought.

By the time Penelope and the Mobsters were finished with their conversation about the Halloween party, they also finished carving their pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns.

"Oh, darlings! The jack-o-lanterns turned out amazing!" Penelope complimented the boys on their jack-o-lanterns.

"They sure do, Penelope." Clyde and his men admired how their jack-o-lanterns turned out. "It's worth getting into those nasty insides."

"What do we do with them now, Penelope?" Dum-Dum asked Penelope.

"Now we light up our little ole candles, place them inside the pumpkins, and place them in the entryway."

Just as everyone was about to place their lighted candles inside their jack-o-lanterns, Penelope's dog, a beautiful Cocker Spaniel named Angel, curiously sniffed around the living room. When Angel came up to the pumpkins, she dug her head into the hole of one of the pumpkins and accidentally flipped it with her paw, causing the pumpkin to get on her head.

Angel's troubled whimpering and barking as she walked around the living room with a pumpkin head caught everyone's attention.

"Looks like Angel's turned into the headless horse-dog!" Yak-Yak couldn't control his laughter.

"Oh my goodness!" Penelope came to her dog and started to get the jack-o-lantern off her head. "Angel, what are you doing, girl? Help me out, fellas."

Dum-Dum (who was pretty much Angel's best friend) held Angel still while the other Mobsters assisted Penelope in removing the jack-o-lantern from Angel's head. It took a couple tries, but they were able to successfully get the jack-o-lantern off Angel, but her head had a few pumpkin insides on it.

"Zippy, go get a dish cloth from the kitchen!" Clyde ordered Zippy.

"Right, Clyde!" Zippy zoomed into the kitchen to get a dish cloth.

In less than a second, Zippy came back with a dish cloth and handed it to Penelope, who graciously accepted it and started wiping her Angel's face with it until her head was no longer covered with pumpkin insides.

"Hey boys…" Penelope suddenly had a thought. "Before we get the supplies I need, would you like to see Angel's Halloween costume this year?"

"Sure! We'd love to!" The boys answered.

"Okay, it's just in my room." Penelope told them, then turned to Angel. "Angel, come girl."

The Mob and Angel followed Penelope into her room, where she started going through Angel's closet of dresses and sweaters until she found what she was looking for. Angel was soon dressed in a pretty bumblebee dress that had a tutu skirt and she had antennas with a yellow bow gently tied on top of her head.

"Angel's such a beautiful little bee!" Softy wept.

"Yeah, beautiful bee…" Snoozy snored.

"Good costume choice for Angel, Penelope." Clyde complimented Angel's bee costume.

"Is she coming to the party, too?" Dum-Dum gave Angel a gentle scratch behind her ears.

"No, she might get overwhelmed, and not to mention lost in the little ole crowd." Penelope shook her head. "But I just love costumes on dogs so I just have to get her one every year!"

"Hey, Penelope!" Zippy came in Penelope's room with a paper. "I found something!"

"What did you find, Zippy?" Penelope came to him.

"It's a picture from an old newspaper." Zippy handed the paper to Penelope. "It looks like you as a kid. Who's with you?"

Penelope looked closely at the picture from the old newspaper from a couple of years back. It was picture of her when she was a little girl. Her then little girl self and her father were happily embracing her mother after she won First Place in the Pumpkin Art and Chucking Contest that year. This took place months before her mother fell gravely ill and ended up passing away, and a couple years before her father passed away in a car accident.

"That's my Mama and Dear Daddy with little ole me." Memories of her parents came to Penelope's heart and mind. "Mama won first place in the contest. She loved all sorts of art and was a very talented painter and designer. She inspired my love for art and I dreamed of being a great artist like her. Fall was both her and Dear Daddy's favorite season. They loved doing all sorts of fun stuff during the fall, especially those trips to cider and donuts with me! Most of all, they loved the colors and the calm chill that fall brought. Daddy always said it gave him a sense of tranquility and a ton of appreciation for the Lord's creation."

Penelope then looked closely at the designs on her mother's pumpkin from the picture.

"Fellas, I know it sounds like bad last minute planning, but I changed my mind on how I want my pumpkin design to be like for the contest this year." She announced.

"What?" The Mob were confused and worried at the same time.

"I no longer plan on doing a spa mud mask facial pumpkin." Penelope continued. "Because I have a better idea."

"What's that, Penelope?" They were curious.

"I'm going to recreate Mama's contest pumpkin." She smiled. "My hope is that I will have the chance to honor her and Dear Daddy and keep their memories going. They've been my inspiration from the very beginning, and I want to make them ever so proud!"

"That's a great idea, Penelope!" Clyde smiled. "And all seven of us will be there to help."

"For a start I'll have you fellas help me get the supplies I'll need for designing my pumpkin." Penelope requested. "I'll need you to grab my deluxe painting kit, a hot glue gun, a pair of scissors, and black cardboard paper. After that, please bring them all to the living room where the newspapers are still on the floor. My pumpkin is still there."

"No problem, Penelope!" The boys saluted as they got the painting kit, hot glue gun and black cardboard paper Penelope needed.

Once everyone was back in the living room, Penelope took a handheld gizmo.

"It's a gift from Professor Pat Pending." She explained. "You just have to select the color paint you want, while it's still in its container, adjust the tone of the color, from very dark to very light, and when you're satisfied with your choice, spray away!"

"Neat!" The Mob was amazed.

"You think you could use it when you do our makeup for our costumes?" Pockets asked as he plugged the hot glue gun into an extension cord.

"Absolutely, Pockets." Penelope said. "It works with all sorts of paints."

"What color are you going to start with, Penelope?" Asked Clyde.

"Light blue, for the sky."

Clyde handed Penelope a container of light blue paint and she placed it inside the tube of the machine the paint container was to go in. She set the tone to semi-light and sprayed the entire pumpkin to look like a blue sky.

The kind of paint Penelope had was the kind of paint that only took a minute to dry, which was good so that she and the boys could move on to the next parts of the project.

"Okay boys, now I'll need light and dark green to make the grass."

Pockets and Dum-Dum took containers of light green and dark green paint, some paintbrushes, a small cup of water, and small containers for her paints and squeezed some of the paints into two separate containers. Penelope kindly thanked them and started painting grass on the pumpkin.

"Okay, now I'll need brown for the tree trunks."

Softy took a container of brown paint and squeezed some of it into one of the small containers. Penelope dipped her paintbrush into the brown paint and began to work on the tree trunks.

"Red, orange and gold will make fabulous little ole leaves for the trees and little ole leaves for the air!"

Snoozy and Yak-Yak took containers of red, gold and orange paint and squeezed them into more containers, and from their Penelope used those colors to design beautiful fall leaves for the air and the trees.

"Zippy, could you please get some white paint for the clouds?"

Zippy got some paint and squeezed it into the last little container. After thanking him, Penelope painted white clouds into the sky, being careful not to get any white onto the leaves she made. After a minute of waiting for the painted clouds to dry, it was time for the next step.

Penelope looked at another picture of her walking with her mother and father and got an idea.

"If you fellas could please hand me the scissors and the black cardboard paper, I'm ready to start my next and final little ole step."

Clyde handed Penelope the black cardboard paper and Yak-Yak handed her the pair of scissors. After she accepted them, she cut out a silhouette of her walking with her parents just like in the picture she had. After she cut out the silhouette, Penelope grabbed the hot glue gun and used it to stick the silhouette to the front of the pumpkin so it would stay.

After pressing the silhouette onto her pumpkin, Penelope backed up a little so she could take a look at it. She was very happy with how her pumpkin turned out.

"Oh fellas! Isn't it just beautiful?" Penelope could not stop smiling.

"It is. You did an incredible job, Penelope." Clyde praised Penelope for her hard work. "I bet your parents are proud of you."

"I couldn't have done it without you fellas." Penelope bent down to hug the Ant Hill Mob.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Penelope picked up her now dry pumpkin and Zippy looked out the window.

"Pizza's here!" He called everyone else.

As the Ant Hill Mob dashed to the door, Penelope went to her room and carefully placed her pumpkin artwork onto her dresser.

"Duh, aren't you gonna come get some pizza, Penelope?" Dum-Dum came up to Penelope's doorway, eating a slice of cheese pizza.

"In a little bit, Dum-Dum." Penelope giggled.

Penelope once more admired her artwork. She was excited to enter it in the contest tomorrow, and make her late parents proud.


	5. Penelope Ready for Launch!

_Now it's the day of the Annual Pumpkin Art and Chucking Contest! Penelope sure looks happy to be taking part in the art competition part!_

"Indeed I am." Penelope grinned as she walked, carrying her pumpkin.

Walking beside Penelope was the Ant Hill Mob and Angel. Because Penelope was carrying her pumpkin, Clyde held onto Angel's leash. Angel was wearing a pink trench coat to match the kind Penelope wore, and she had pink bows in her ears.

"Okay fellas, we're almost there." Penelope told the Ant Hill Mob. "Just a few more little ole steps."

"Oh yeah! I can already smell the coffee and donuts, and they're calling our names!" Pockets smiled.

"Yeah! Coffee and donuts!" The other Mobsters were excited to get some food at the contest.

 _After a couple more steps, our heroes reach the contest grounds!_

Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob finally made it to the farm grounds, where the Pumpkin Art and Chucking Contest was to be held. Peter Perfect was prepping his pumpkin launcher for the chucking competition part with his Beagle and hunting dog, Duke, beside him when he spotted Penelope.

"Good morning, Miss Penelope." Peter greeted Penelope.

"It's almost noon, silly!" Penelope giggled. "But either way, it's great to see little ole you, Peter."

"It's great seeing you too, Pretty Penny." Peter kissed her cheek.

"I guess I forgot you were taking part in the little ole contest, too." Penelope noticed Peter's pumpkin launcher.

"That's right, Penny." Peter replied. "I decided to take part in the chucking contest. This launcher's working quite nicely if I do say so myself."

When Duke spotted Angel, he immediately howled with excitement and the dogs came running to each other and started playing with each other.

"Duke sure had missed my little ole Angel-Fish." Penelope smiled as she watched Angel playing with Duke.

"He sure has, and I sure missed you, too." Peter held Penelope in a close, loving embrace.

"I'm glad they pick this little ole park for the contest every year." Penelope looked around the park, which looked prettier than ever with the fall foliage. "It's just so beautiful this time of year."

"Not as beautiful as you, Penelope."

Peter and Penelope were just about to share a fond kiss when the contest announcer came up to them.

"Glad to see you, Miss Pitstop." Said the announcer. "That's a lovely looking pumpkin you've got there!"

"Thanks ever so ever, sir." Penelope replied. "Where exactly do I put it?"

"Just to the right, Miss Pitstop." The announcer answered. "Place it on the display table with all the other Pumpkin Art entries."

"I'll go there." Penelope nodded. "Thanks again!"

Peter had some spare time and had gotten enough launching practice before it would be his turn to compete, so he decided to take Duke's leash and follow Penelope. The Ant Hill Mob and Angel followed, too.

When Penelope reached the display table, she looked at the other decorated pumpkins and then at hers. She placed her pumpkin on the table with a troubled sigh, concerning the boys.

"Penelope, what's wrong." Zippy asked.

"Oh, nothing." Penelope murmured. "Just not feeling well, I guess…"

"Come on, Penelope. You can't just not be feeling well." Clyde told her. "Something's clearly wrong, or you wouldn't have looked and sounded so down."

"Okay boys, you've got me…" Penelope gave in. "I'm just feeling a bit nervous."

"Duh, is it because of the Hooded Claw?" Dum-Dum wondered.

"It's not the Hooded Claw, it's just…" Penelope explained. "Look at these little ole pumpkins. They've been made by fabulous, talented designers. I'm afraid I'll just come up short. I wish I hadn't planned my design at the last minute."

"Penelope, you only painted your pumpkin last night." Pockets reassured her. "It wasn't last minute."

"Maybe, but I changed my mind last night, and that's kind of last minute." Penelope frowned. "Maybe I'm not as good of an artist as the other contestants."

"Penelope, you are an incredible artist." Clyde patted her leg. "You've clearly got your mother's skills. And think about this, Penelope. Why were the works of Van Gogh and Picasso so popular?"

"It's their art skills." Penelope thought about Van Gogh and Picasso and when she learned about them in her school art classes.

"Van Gogh and Picasso were popular not just because of their art skills, but because they weren't afraid to be unique when it came to their art styles." Peter explained. "That's exactly what you are, Penny. Your art style is very unique, and that's what makes you a special artist. And the fact that you decided to make your display a tribute to your mother and father really says something. I know your mother took part in the contest every year, and she and your father would be proud whether you win or lose."

Penelope felt a small coming back to her face.

"You're right, Peter, and so are you, fellas." She felt less stressed and less nervous. "I didn't enter the competition just to see if I can win. I entered because I love art and because I want to honor my parents in all I do. Even if I didn't win first place like Mama did, I just know she and Dear Daddy will be looking down from heaven with smiles!"

"Exactly, Penelope!" Clyde smiled.

"Now before we leave, there's just something else I want to add, too."

Penelope looked inside her purse and took out a framed photo of her then little self and her father embracing her mother after the contest, just like the one in the newspaper Zippy found last night. Then she placed the photo next to her pumpkin and placed a small card in between the pumpkin and the sign. The little card was titled, **Fall Family Memories, by Penelope Pitstop**.

"Oh yes, it's all looking good, now." Penelope grinned.

"I just know you and Peter will do amazing, Penelope!" Softy cried.

"Yeah, amazing…" Snoozy snored.

"Thanks, fellas." Penelope took Angel's leash. "Win or lose I'll have a great time!"

"So will I." Peter took Duke's leash. "Now we must head back. The contest will be starting soon."

"Right!" The Ant Hill Mob nodded.

Penelope, The Ant Hill Mob, Peter, and the dogs came back to the area of the contest grounds where the pumpkin launching part was to be held. They gasped and stood frozen in their tracks when they discovered that Peter's pumpkin launcher was missing.

 _Our heroes have returned to the contest grounds, but it looks like Peter may not be competing. His launcher's suddenly disappeared! But how, and why?_

"My launcher! It's gone!" Peter looked around in shock. "How on earth can that be!?"

"I wonder what could've happened!" Yak-Yak chuckled.

"Duh, maybe it took a lunch or bathroom break." Dum-Dum assumed in his own stupidity.

"Lunch or bathroom break nothing, you dum-dum!" Clyde scowled. "I think someone stole it."

"But who, and why?" Penelope thought.

"Pardon me, Mr. Perfect." The announcer came up to Peter. "But we're about to start the chucking part of the contest."

"I'd start too, if my launcher was here." Peter answered back. "I have not a clue what happened to it."

"So you lost your launcher!?" The announcer frowned at Peter.

"Please don't disqualify Peter." Penelope pleaded with the announcer. "It's not his fault. He followed me when I came to the little ole pumpkin art display table, and when we came back, it just disappeared."

"That, and he worked hard." Zippy tried to reason with the announcer. "Someone just stole it."

"Please, just start without Peter." Penelope requested. "The Ant Hill Mob and I will help him look for his launcher. It's got to be around here somewhere. After we find it, he'll take part and I'll come back to the art part of the contest. But Peter worked too hard to be disqualified for something he didn't do."

"Well, okay." The announcer sighed. "Since Mr. Perfect didn't cause the disappearance of his own launcher, we'll let all of you look for it. But please report back here as soon as you find it."

"We will, sir." Peter nodded his head in agreement. "Thank you for understanding."

Then he turned his head to Penelope and the Mob.

"We'll go into the woods to see if my launcher is there." Peter discussed his plan. "I'll have Duke sniff out a trail and see if it's there. Penny, I'll have you, Angel, and the Ant Hill Mob go another path in the woods. I know Angel is also a good search dog, so she'll have a good chance at finding my launcher, too. I need you or the boys to call me if you find it or if there's an emergency."

"No problem, Peter." Penelope hugged him. "We'll look everywhere and we'll be careful."

 _And so, into the woods our heroes go to look for Peter's pumpkin launcher!_

In one part of the woods, Angel was sniffing away on the trail, Penelope holding onto her leash.

"Okay fellas, Angel just might be able to find where Peter's launcher is." Penelope told the Mob. "After all, it has his scent. If she can't find it, Duke might hopefully be able to."

"Duh I hope one of us finds it." Dum-Dum worried.

"Yeah, the contest won't be the same without him." Softy wept.

"I hope we find it, too. But we have to have faith that we can." Penelope encouraged the boys. "Faith is what makes us able to do anything!"

Suddenly, the sounds of a quacking duck filled Angel's ears and caught her attention. The quacks caused Angel to get excited and tug on her leash.

 _Uh oh! Angel, being a trained bird dog, can't resist chasing birds, especially ducks._

"Angel, no! Heel, girl." Penelope tried to keep her excitable dog under control.

Penelope struggled to hold Angel back with the leash, but to no avail. Angel ran and caused Penelope to accidentally let go of her leash.

"Wait here, boys. I have to follow Angel and stop her!"

"Okay, Penelope." Clyde agreed. "But please be careful."

"I will, Clyde!" Penelope called as she ran ahead as fast as her feet could carry her down the woods.

 _Will Penelope be able to catch Angel and find Peter's pumpkin launcher? I sure hope so!_

Angel stopped running and sniffed around the ground. After hearing the sounds of the duck quacking again, she immediately started to run down the path again. Angel stepped onto a pile of leaves when all of a sudden, she was closed in by a fishnet hanging from a tree branch. Penelope could hear Angel's startled yelps from a distance.

 _Oh no! Angel's trapped!_

"Angel!" Penelope cried as she followed the sounds of Angel's yelps, whimpers and barks. "I'm coming, baby!"

Penelope kept running on the path, hoping to save her beloved canine companion. She gasped in shock when she saw Angel dangling helplessly in the fishnet, whimpering and barking.

"Angel!" Penelope worriedly came to her trapped pup and pet her to calm her down. "I'm here now, girl. Shh, it's okay. I don't know who did this to you, but not to worry, baby. I'll get you out of here soon."

"I did this to your mutt, and you won't get her out of that fishnet!" A familiar voice made Penelope flinch.

Out from behind a large tree appeared the Hooded Claw. The Bully Brothers each came out from behind two large trees and together, all three villains surrounded Penelope.

"The Hooded Claw!" Penelope scowled. "I ought to charge you for animal cruelty for what you've done to my poor Angel-fish!"

"I just knew your trained gun dog would fall for my duck calls, and she made fabulous bait, too." The Hooded Claw laughed.

From inside the fishnet, Angel barked, growled and snarled at the Claw and the Bully Brothers.

"You hold onto Penelope, Bully Brothers." The Claw ordered his henchmen. "I'll take Angel's net. I think that pesky pup deserves to go, too."

"Right, Claw." The Bully Brothers agreed in unison as they held Penelope back on each side.

Penelope, despite being held back by the Bullies, took her cell phone out of her coat pocket and made an emergency call to Clyde.

"Hello, Clyde. I need your help!" Penelope warned Clyde.

"Penelope, everything okay?" Clyde put his phone on speaker so his boys could hear her and talk to her, too.

"No, nothing's okay! The Hooded Claw has me!" She warned the boys. "He has Angel, too! I don't know where he's gonna take little ole me or where he's gonna take little ole Angel, but…"

"Oh no you don't!" The Bully Brothers took Penelope's phone from her hand and turned it off.

"Penelope! Penelope, answer us!" Clyde yelled.

"Take Penelope to the far other side of the farm ground where the lake is and get her ready for our fiendish trap." The Hooded Claw told his henchmen as he took the fishnet holding the barking, snarling Angel. "I'm gonna take Angel to the pond and leave her there. She'll make a fabulous meal for a couple of snapping turtles!"

The Claw gave an evil laugh as he dashed to the pond and left Angel at the side of it.

 _Yikes! Things look terrible for our gals! Poor Angel's left at the pond, awaiting a hungry snapping turtle or two, or maybe some leeches! And what of poor Penelope?_

"For this trap, Pitstop, you're gonna take the highest flight of your life!" The Hooded Claw sneered.

Penelope was taken far away to the other side of the farm ground, where she was bound hand and foot.

"If you'll notice, my dear, this pumpkin launcher which was supposed to be used for the contest is placed on the edge of this cliff." The Claw started explaining his newest trap. "Once you're placed onto the net that holds the pumpkins, a couple of hungry chipmunks will chew threw the rope holding the switch in place. The minute the rope snaps, you'll be catapulted to the other side of the lake, where you'll sink in the deep end!"

The Hooded Claw gave a wicked laugh after his finished his explanation. As the Bully Brothers placed Penelope in the net where pumpkins were usually placed for chucking, she looked at the pumpkin launcher and realized something.

"That launcher, it belongs to Peter Perfect!" She noticed. "It was you! You stole Peter's launcher just to do little ole me!"

"Indeed it was me, Pitstop." The Claw had no remorse for stealing Peter's launcher. "I had to do something to distract your pest friends!"

"You'll be sorry when Peter learns about this." She glared at the Claw.

"He won't learn, because once you're cast into the lake, you won't live to tell the tale!"

The Hooded Claw turned to his lackeys.

"Turn loose the chipmunks, Bully Brothers."

"Right, Claw." The Bullies opened the door of a small box, and out came three little chipmunks.

The chipmunks looked and sniffed around, and the minute they spotted the rope, they ran to it with happy squeaks and started chewing away.

"Sorry I can't stay to see you get chucked by chipmunks!" The Claw laughed evilly before he and the Bully Brothers ran off.

 _Will Penelope be chucked into the deep end of the lake by a couple hungry chipmunks? Will Angel become lunch for a snapping turtle or two? Or will the Ant Hill Mob be able to find Peter and Duke, so they can all rescue our gals?_

Back in the other side of the woods, Clyde and the other boys were calling Peter's name.

"Peter!" Clyde called out.

"Peter! Help us!" Softy bawled.

"Where are you, Peter?" Dum-Dum yelled.

Duke's ears picked up the sound of the Ant Hill Mob calling his master's name, and from there he started barking and howling to Peter.

"Duke, what's going on, boy?" Peter went to his beloved hunting dog.

It was then that he could finally hear the sounds of the Mob calling his name, and they were getting closer.

"It's Clyde and the boys." Peter realized. "Come, Duke. We have to see what they need."

Peter and Duke followed the sounds of the Ant Hill Mob calling their names. They were getting closer and closer when they suddenly bumped into Clyde.

"Clyde! Please forgive me! I didn't see you there."

"All's forgiven, Peter." Clyde got up and dusted himself off. "Either way, I'm glad we found you. Something bad has happened to both Penelope and Angel."

"What!?" Peter gasped.

Duke let out a worried whimper after hearing that Angel was in peril too.

"The Hooded Claw has them!" Zippy added. "We never got to learn where they are!"

"Well I know panicking is not the answer." Said Peter. "Duke will be able to sniff out both Penelope and Angel's trail, and we should hopefully be able to find them in time."

Peter took out one of Angel's dog toys and one of Penelope's fashion scarves and brought them to Duke's nose. After Duke took a couple sniffs of Penelope and Angel's belongings, he started sniffing the ground and all around the woods. He then started howling, meaning he caught the scent and picked up the trail.

"Good boy, Duke!" Peter praised his pup before turning to the Ant Hill Mob. "Come along chaps! We have to follow Duke!"

"We're right behind you and Duke, Peter!" Clyde nodded as he and the other Mobsters took off behind Peter and Duke.

 _I sure hope they boys get to the girls on time! Penelope's just a couple chipmunk chews away from being catapulted into the lake, and a snapping turtle has discovered Angel trapped at the edge of the pond!_

Back at the pond, Angel was whimpering and struggling to get out of the fishnet she was still trapped in. During her struggle, she sniffed a snapping turtle coming next to her, and she started growling and snarling to defend herself once the turtle opened his mouth and prepared to take a bite out of her.

The sound of Duke baying ringed Angel's ears, and it was not long before the boys came to the pond and found Angel on the edge of it, growling and barking at the snapping turtle.

"Look, Clyde! Angel's gonna turn into snapping turtle chow!" Yak-Yak giggled.

"Oh no she's not, because we're gonna get her out of this place." Clyde replied.

 _The sooner you get Angel out of this place the better, because that snapping turtle is just about ready to chomp Penelope's pup!_

"Quick Zippy! Get Angel away from that snapping turtle!" Clyde ordered.

"Right, Clyde!" Zippy immediately zipped off to the pond and grabbed Angel just in time before the turtle could bite her.

 _Good going, guys! That's one gal saved, and just one more to go!_

"Quick Pockets! Make with the scissors and get Angel out of that net!" Clyde demanded.

"Right, Clyde." Pockets nodded before he took a pair of scissors and cut a large gap in the fishnet.

The boys pulled the large gap apart, allowing Angel to run out.

"Angel's safe!" Softy cried.

Duke lovingly nuzzled Angel, relieved that she was unharmed. Angel barked and whimpered as her way of telling the boys of Penelope's disappearance.

"We know, Angel." Clyde consoled Angel. "Don't worry, girl. We're gonna find her and save her, and we'll definitely need your help, too."

Angel's spirits brightened up, and after Duke picked up Penelope's scent and started baying again, she merrily followed him as he set off on the trail. Peter and the Ant Hill Mob followed them.

 _Hurry, everyone! Those chipmunks are chewing away, and the rope is just about to snap!_

The dogs found the pumpkin launcher at the edge of the cliff and started barking at the chipmunks, scaring the critters away. Unfortunately, the rope snapped and sent Penelope flying away.

 _Oh no! Angel and Duke may have stopped the chipmunks, but not Penelope!_

Once the boys came to the cliff, they noticed Peter's launcher standing there, and then Penelope falling from the sky and into the lake.

"So, the Hooded Claw's the one who stole my launcher, just to do Penelope harm." Peter scowled. "But never mind that, Penelope needs help! Let's go everyone!"

As Duke led Angel and the boys to the other side of the lake and kept baying, Penelope was struggling to keep her head above the water, but the way she had been tied up made it difficult. She started to sink just as Duke found her and howled even louder.

"Oh look!" Softy wailed as he noticed Penelope sinking.

"Penny, no!" Peter gasped.

With a growl, Angel jumped into the lake and dove in to save Penelope. Moments later, Angel emerged from the lake, holding onto a strand of the ropes binding Penelope with her teeth. Penelope coughed and took a couple breaths and Angel took her back to shore.

 _Good girl, Angel! Your both your love for water, your duck hunting training, and your rescue dog training have paid off, and Penelope is saved again!_

The minute Angel brought Penelope back to dry land, she and Duke untied Penelope's ropes with their teeth.

"Penny, are you okay, dear?" Peter ran up to Penelope.

"Yes, I'm okay, Peter." Penelope coughed some more, but was more aware of her surroundings once Angel licked her face to bring her back to full reality.

She then turned to Angel and cuddled her.

"Oh Angel!" Penelope was so happy that Angel was unharmed and that she saved her. "My girl! You're alright! I'm so happy you're alright! And you saved me! Oh, good puppy!"

"Miss Pitstop! Are you alright?" The contest announcer came to her. "I saw you falling into the lake, and you certainly gave me a scare!"

"I'm alright now, thanks to my dear friends!" Penelope grinned even though she was soaked and a bit cold. "And we found Peter's launcher! It's on the edge of the cliff just at the other side of the lake."

"Wonderful!" The announcer was happy to hear. "Mr. Perfect, I'll follow you and help you to bring it back to the contest. We simply must get started."

"With pleasure!" Peter led the announcer to where the Hooded Claw had taken his launcher.

"You come along with us Penelope." Clyde took Penelope's hand and helped her up. "We'll get you some hot apple cider to warm you back up."

"Thanks, fellas." She smiled.

 _Now that Penelope and Angel have been saved, our heroes can return to the contest! Right now it's time for the Pumpkin Chucking part! Good luck, Peter!_

Back at the contest, Peter stood next to his launcher. He had three pumpkins next to him, as he would be chucking them to the target across from the launcher. Penelope, who was wrapped in a warm blanket, held onto her cup of hot apple cider as she, the Ant Hill Mob, and the dogs watched him prepare.

"Good luck, Peter!" Penelope called to him. "I just know you'll do just perfect!"

Peter smiled back at her.

"Okay, next in our Pumpkin Chucking competition is Peter Perfect!" The announcer shouted.

Peter placed one of his pumpkins into the launcher net and worked the switch of the machine. Before long, the launcher did its job, and sent the pumpkin flying high until it reached the target and hit the bullseye.

Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob cheered with the audience. He prepared his last two pumpkins and managed to get them onto the bullseye, too. The crowd roared with cheers and applause as he took a bow.

"Fabulous job, Mr. Perfect." The announcer praised him. "Now it's time for the Pumpkin Art competition!"

Penelope became excited when she heard the announcer say it was time for the art competition.

Minutes later, Penelope stood by the display table with her design and picture frame on top. As the boys watched, Clyde held onto Angel's leash and Dum-Dum held Duke's leash.

"Remember what we told you, Penelope!" Clyde called to her. "Win or lose, your parents will be proud of you!"

Penelope smiled back at her friends, feeling confident and encouraged. A woman who was in charge of the art segment walked around with a clipboard and pen.

"Very nice." She said as she walked by the designs. "Very clever of you. Nice use of glitter."

She then came up to Penelope and her design.

"Why, I thought I'd notice you." The woman knew who Penelope was. "You're Pamela Pitstop's little girl, aren't you?"

"I am, madam." Penelope answered.

"She's been a well-known participant in our contest for the longest time, and I'd recognize this design, anywhere!" The woman examined Penelope's pumpkin. "And the way you used a silhouette of your family, absolutely beautiful! It's great that you chose to do a tribute to your mother and father. They were wonderful people and were so very loved."

"Thank you."

The woman came to the judges' table and started speaking with the judges. After a few minutes, it was time to announce the winners.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer presented. "It is now time to announce our winners for this year's Pumpkin Art and Chucking Contest!"

The Ant Hill Mob waited in the audience, hoping and praying that Peter and Penelope would get good results.

"In third place for the chucking competition, we have Augustus! In second place, we have Farmer Tom! In first place, we have…"

Penelope, the Ant Hill Mob and Peter tensely awaited the results.

"Peter Perfect!"

Peter gasped happily and humbly accepted his trophy.

"Mr. Perfect, you had the best marksmanship that we haven't seen in over twenty years!" The announcer praised Peter and congratulated him.

"Thank you sir." Peter shook the announcer's hand with one and held his trophy with the other hand. "Those years in archery have paid off."

"And now, it's time to announce the winners of the art competition! In third place, we have Emily and her creation titled, **Woodland Creatures**! In second place, we have Mikey and his creation titled, **Sports Ball Pyramid**! And in first place, we have…"

The Ant Hill Mob squeezed hands and Peter squeezed his trophy a bit.

"Penelope Pitstop and her creation titled, **Fall Family Memories**!"

Penelope squealed in excitement and joy and she humbly accepted her trophy. The Ant Hill Mob cheered and the dogs howled in happiness.

"Miss Pitstop, your design was a great way to honor your parents." The announcer praised Penelope. "You certainly have your mother's passion for art, and it clearly shines through!"

"Thank you." Penelope looked at the Ant Hill Mob. "But in all honesty, I couldn't have done it without my darling companions, the Ant Hill Mob. I owe it all to them!"

"Thanks, Penelope." Clyde and the rest of the Mob went to Penelope and gave her a big group hug.

Penelope scooped Angel into her arms and Peter and Duke came to her and the Mob and joined in the group hug.

 _And now the contest is over! Penelope and Peter have won! Now it's time to prepare for the Halloween party!_


	6. The Hooded Claw's Halloween Scare

_Halloween Night is here at last! Our heroine is just getting herself ready for the Annual Halloween Party at the Pitstop Country Club!_

Halloween had finally come, and the Pitstop Manor was full of Halloween cheer. The Ant Hill Mob's jack-o-lanterns lit up the entryway and the interior parts of the mansion were decorated with all sorts of witches, spiders, pumpkins and ghosts.

Penelope was in her bedroom finishing up the last bits of her makeup for her Halloween costume. She was dressed as a black cat. She wore a black long-sleeve shirt, black pants, her favorite white go-go boots, a black cat tail, a rhinestone choker, and a rhinestone cat ear headband. For her makeup, Penelope used false eyelashes, black eyeliner to achieve a cat-eye look, red lipstick, and she painted her nose black and painted black cat whiskers on both her cheeks.

"There we go." Penelope checked her costume and makeup out in her full-length mirror. "All ready!"

She turned her head when her bedroom door knocked. When she opened it, she saw the Ant Hill Mob, who wore old suits and hats that had been cut, ripped, distressed, and smeared with dirt and some fake blood.

"Fellas! You made it just in time!" Penelope grinned. "I was just finishing my little ole makeup, and it's high time I started yours, too. Come right in!"

The Ant Hill Mob followed Penelope back into her room and settled themselves in. Penelope took out the essentials she needed for doing their makeup for their costumes.

"Okay boys, I'll have you take a seat." She told them.

"Thanks for offering to do our makeup, Penelope." Clyde said. "You're the only one we can trust with it."

"I'm glad I am, too. When it comes to makeup, I am an expert." Penelope giggled.

"No doubt about it!" Pockets agreed.

Penelope took out the spray paint machine she used for her pumpkin contest entry and placed a container of white face makeup into the machine's tube. After that, she set the tone to very light.

"Now I'll need you boys to keep your eyes closed and keep your faces relaxed." She told the Ant Hill Mob. "I'm gonna start with a light tone of white for pale complexions."

"Right, Penelope." The boys closed their eyes and relaxed their faces.

Penelope used the machine to spray-paint the Mob's faces, necks, chests, ears, hands and other exposed areas lightly white to create a pale, dead look. She used a black makeup crayon to make their eyes appear sunken in, used gray cream makeup to outline their noses, cheekbones and foreheads, and painted some fake blood to the corners of their mouths and some parts of their bodies.

It took Penelope a bit of time because she did the makeup of all seven of the boys, but they all looked like zombies from head to toe. The Mobsters looked into the mirror and loved how their makeup turned out.

"We look great, Penelope!" Clyde complimented Penelope as he and the rest of the Mob looked at their zombie looks in the mirror. "You did a wonderful job!"

"Duh, you should be a real makeup artist!" Dum-Dum agreed.

"Oh fellas, you look scary good!" Penelope blushed.

"Do you think we'll win the costume contest at the party?" Zippy asked.

"You're shoe-ins to win, darlings! After all, you worked your tails off on these costumes."

As Penelope was talking to the Ant Hill Mob, her cat, a white domestic longhaired cat named Snowflake, climbed onto Penelope's vanity and stuck her nose into some powder to sniff it. The powder caused Snowflake's nose to get itchy, and she sneezed, knocking her and some of the makeup off the vanity.

The sounds of Snowflake falling and meowing and the makeup containers crashing caught Penelope's attention, and Penelope rushed over to her cat to make sure she was alright.

"Snowflake, what do you think you're doing?" Penelope giggled as she stroked Snowflake and scooped her into her arms. "Silly kitty!"

Snowflake snuggled into Penelope's arms and purred happily.

"Look, there's two lovely ladies who are the cat's meow!" Yak-Yak joked.

Snowflake looked at the Mob, jumped out of Penelope's arms and went over to the Ant Hill Mob, purring and rubbing her head against their legs.

"Yeah, you're a pretty kitty." Dum-Dum gave Snowflake a gentle scratch behind her ears.

"Just so beautiful!" Softy sobbed as he stroked Snowflake.

"Lucky for Softy this makeup's both smudge and waterproof." Clyde muttered.

Penelope looked at her clock and gasped.

"Good heavens! Look at the time, fellas! Time to leave for the Halloween Party!"

"Well in that case, let's get to Chuggaboom and head on over to the country club!" Clyde rounded up the others.

 _Meanwhile, at the Halloween party…_

Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob arrived to the Pitstop Country Club for the Annual Halloween Party. When they came inside, they saw a ton of costumed guests chatting with each other, bobbing for apples, dining on the food, and dancing to the tunes the DJ was playing.

They then saw Priscilla, who was dressed in a white and lavender period ball gown with ruffles.

"Happy Halloween, Priscilla!" Penelope greeted Priscilla.

"Happy Halloween, Penelope!" Priscilla grinned and hugged Penelope. "You look so adorable! And the Ant Hill Mob, they look spooky, but spectacular!"

"Courtesy of Penelope, expert fashion designer and makeup artist!" Zippy looked up at Penelope.

"Have y'all seen Peter around here?" Penelope asked Priscilla.

"If I know my Peter, he is a social chatterbox at parties, so he's somewhere among the crowd but I doubt you'll miss him." Priscilla replied.

"We'll look for him and we'll see y'all soon!" Penelope waved to Priscilla, the Ant Hill Mob behind her.

"You too, dears!" Priscilla waved back.

After a bit of walking around, Penelope and the Mob found Peter. Peter was dressed as a vampire, and he wore a black dress shirt, a red silk dress vest, black dress slacks, black oxford shoes, a black silk cape with a red trim and a high collar, and faux vampire fangs on his upper teeth. His blond hair had been slicked back with hair gel.

"Peter, darling!" Penelope called to him. "Happy Halloween, sugar!"

"Happy Halloween, babe." Peter turned around and kissed her lips. "My, how lovely you look tonight, Penny."

"And you look ever so handsome, Peter." Penelope complimented Peter back.

"Penelope did a great job on your makeup, chaps." Peter complimented on the Ant Hill Mob's zombie costumes and makeup.

"Thanks, Peter." Clyde thanked him. "So what exactly have you been up to?"

"Well, Clyde, I'm just about head for the apple tank to bob for an apple or two." Peter answered. "Anything to keep the doctor away."

Penelope and the boys giggled at Peter's joke.

"Would any of you like to bob for apples?"

"I'd love to, but, cat whiskers." Penelope shook her head.

"And we would too, but Penelope worked really hard on our makeup." Pockets also shook his head.

"That's okay." Peter nodded. "At least I get to have spectators! I'm guaranteed to be successful!"

"Duh, why do you say that, Peter?" Dum-Dum shrugged.

"Just watch…"

Peter took a deep breath and dunked his head in the apple tank. A few seconds later he emerged from the tank with an apple attached to his vampire fangs.

"I get it now!" Dum-Dum chuckled. "Your teeth made you successful!"

"They came in handy, and not just to complete the costume!" Yak-Yak laughed.

"For you, my love." Peter plucked the apple out of his fangs and gave it to Penelope.

"Oh, thank you." Penelope graciously accepted the apple. "Peter, did you happen to see any friends of ours from the Wacky Races? I knew some of them are coming."

"Oh, they're scattered across the entire place." Peter nodded. "I know Professor Pat Pending's working the lights and effects of the party and the haunted house, he's somewhere in the projection room. The Gruesomes are also here. Where those guys could be I'm not too sure. And Dick Dastardly and Muttley are working the haunted house. We should definitely make time to say hello."

"My plan exactly!" Penelope was excited to see her friends. "I'll see you real soon, babe!"

"I'll see you too, my love."

Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob walked to the country club's projection room, where they saw Professor Pat Pending, who was dressed as a mad scientist.

"Happy Halloween, Professor Pat Pending!" Penelope greeted him.

"Penelope Pitstop! Happy Halloween to you, too, my dear." Pat greeted her back. "Nice black cat costume."

"Thanks ever so ever, Professor. Your little ole gizmo looks neat!" Penelope admired the professor's machine. "It's a perfect way to multitask and be in two places at once."

"That's exactly why I invented it in the first place." Pat explained. "With this latest invention, I can work the effects of both the party and the haunted house!"

Pat pressed a button on the machine that made the sound of a werewolf howl in the haunted house and a button that made the sound of a witch's cackle in the haunted house. Then he pushed another button that changed the colors of the lights in the party from orange to purple.

"Wow!" Penelope and the Mob were intrigued.

"Very clever of y'all Professor!" Said Penelope.

"Thank you, Penelope!" Pat thanked her. "I hope you enjoy the party.

"Oh we will!" Penelope waved to the professor. "We will!"

 _I'm not so sure how Penelope can have fun right now. Look who's here uninvited!_

"You were expecting the Sanderson Sisters?" The Hooded Claw sneered, the Bully Brothers behind him. "When the time is right, we're gonna sneak into the party and find Pitstop! Right, Bully Brothers?"

"Right, Claw." The Bully Brothers replied in unison.

As Penelope left the projection room with the Ant Hill Mob, she felt sick to her stomach, which was a sign that she was nervous.

"Penelope, you don't look so good." Dum-Dum noticed. "Duh I mean, you're beautiful, but…"

"I know what you're trying to say, Dum-Dum." Penelope replied. "I'm just feeling edgy. I've got a bad feeling the Hooded Claw might be around here somewhere."

"Fear not, Penelope." Clyde reassured her. "The boys and I will keep our eyes peeled for him and we won't let him anywhere near you."

"Thanks fellas, but how ever will you find him?" Penelope wondered. "After all, this is a Halloween costume party we're at. The Hooded Claw could be somewhere among the crowd."

"We'll just have to split up and look for him. Let's go, you guys!"

"Right, Clyde!" The other Mobsters responded before they scattered off in opposite directions.

"I do hope they find the Hooded Claw before he even starts to plan something awful for little ole me." Penelope rested her head on Peter's chest.

"I'm sure they will, Penny." Peter held Penelope close. "I know they're just as protective of you as I am, and they've defeated him and his nasty henchmen dozens of times."

"Yes, and I know you've defeated him too." Penelope smiled warmly as she remembered the times Peter protected her and rescued her from the clutches of the Hooded Claw.

Out of the blue, Peter was trapped by a net, causing him to let go of Penelope.

 _Oh no! The Hooded Claw's up to no good again! He's captured Peter in order to stop him from saving Penelope!_

"Duh, I got him!" Dum-Dum cheered.

 _Phew, it's not the Hooded Claw. It's only Dum-Dum, thinking that Peter Perfect is the Hooded Claw._

"You dum-dum!" Clyde yelled at Dum-Dum. "What are you doing!?"

"I just captured the Hooded Claw, so he can't get Penelope." Dum-Dum answered.

"Dum-Dum, I'm not the Hooded Claw." Peter patiently frowned. "It's me, Peter!"

"Peter!" Dum-Dum realized. "It's really you?"

"Yes, Dum-Dum…"

"But you have a cape on just like the Hooded Claw." Dum-Dum scratched his head.

"My cape is black and made of the finest silk." Peter explained. "The Hooded Claw's cape is dark green, and it's nowhere near silk."

"The Hooded Claw wears green and purple, that's how you'll know you found him." Penelope reminded the Ant Hill Mob.

"Green and purple? No Problem!" Dum-Dum nodded.

"Let's keep looking, and this time don't mess this up!" Clyde ordered his boys.

"Right, Clyde!" The rest of the Mob responded before once again scattering off in opposite directions.

"While they're looking for the Hooded Claw, let's go see the Gruesomes and then Dastardly and Muttley." Penelope suggested.

"Sounds good, Pretty Penny." Peter held her hand as they walked out of the country club to the haunted house.

 _So, this Halloween Party is turning into a "search party!" While the Ant Hill Mob is searching for the Hooded Claw, the Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers enter the party, searching for Penelope!_

Meanwhile, the Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers snuck into the country club ballroom, determined to find Penelope and capture her.

"Okay Bully Brothers." The Hooded Claw told his lackeys. "I'm not sure what Penelope's dressed as tonight, but she's got to be around here somewhere. It's a large Halloween costume party, so any one of these party guests could be her. We'll split up and see where she is."

The Bully Brothers didn't listen to the Claw because they were busy grooving to the music the DJ was playing.

"Come on, Bully Brothers!" The Hooded Claw snapped as he grabbed them by the collars of their shirts.

"Right, Claw!" The Bullies obeyed as they and their boss left in opposite directions to find Penelope among the crowd of party goers.

The Hooded Claw was walking around during his search when a woman dressed as a gorgeous witch came up to him.

"Nice costume, handsome." She flirted with the Claw.

"Oh, it's not a costume, my dear." The Claw blushed. "It's just a part of the uniform. We'll chat later, miss, but I'm a little busy right now."

At the haunted house, Penelope and Peter looked around, eager to find the Gruesomes and Dastardly and Muttley.

"Welcome, mortals." A character resembling a large humanoid Frankenstein's monster and a small purple vampire greeted Penelope and Peter.

"Gruesomes, our friends!" Penelope squealed in delight to see her fellow Wacky Race friends. "I just knew I'd find you here!"

"They liked our style, so they asked us to help in this haunted house." Little Gruesome explained.

"It's great to see you again, my dear." Big Gruesome told Penelope.

"And me?" Peter reminded them. "I was in the races too, you know."

"It's a pleasure seeing you too." Big Gruesome smiled at Peter.

"Peter and I are so happy you could make it to the party!" Penelope hugged the Gruesomes. "It would not be Halloween without friends like you!"

"We look forward to Halloween every year!" Little Gruesome grinned. "It's the only time to celebrate people like us!"

"Oh yes." Penelope agreed. "Do you know where Dick Dastardly and Muttley are, boys? I know they're working in here, too."

"Just keep going straight and you'll find them." Big Gruesome pointed his finger straight ahead. "But prepare to be scared on the way."

"I don't scare easily, so it's no problem for me."

"Me neither." Peter said. "Thanks again, Gruesomes! Keep up the good work!"

"Thanks to you too!" The Gruesomes waved goodbye.

It was not long before Penelope and Peter walked by a part of the haunted house that resembled a haunted circus. Suddenly, a medium sized werewolf started snarling at them and an evil clown jumped out at the two lovebirds. It was then that Penelope and Peter recognized who the werewolf and the evil clown were. Dick Dastardly was the evil clown and Muttley was the werewolf.

"I do declare! Dick Dastardly and Muttley!" Penelope was excited to see them despite the trouble they caused her and the rest of her friends in the Wacky Races.

"For heaven's sakes, Blondie!" Dastardly frowned. "Don't give it away! We're on duty right now!"

Muttley just stood there snickering, but Dastardly hit him on the head with his fist.

"Razza-frazza, razza…" Muttley muttered as he rubbed his sore head.

"Now, Dastardly." Peter reasoned with Dastardly. "Penelope was only being polite. We've been looking for you and we wanted to see you."

"Oh, forgive me, Penelope." Dastardly fell to his knees.

"Dastardly, you're always forgiven." Penelope assured him. "You and Muttley look absolutely perfect for the parts. The little ole makeup artists sure do a high quality job every time!"

"Why thank you, Penelope." Dastardly smiled at her for the first time tonight. "Pulling evil stunts is one of my favorite things to do, so I figured Muttley and I would enjoy being scare actors in this haunted house of yours."

Suddenly, all four of them heard screams coming from inside the country club.

"No one can possibly be screaming now." Dastardly looked around. "Muttley and I haven't done any scares just now."

"The screams aren't coming from in here, they're coming from the inside of the country club." Peter listened closely.

"Let's go back inside, boys." Penelope led the men out. "We've gotta make sure everything's okay in there!"

Penelope, Peter, Dastardly and Muttley ran back into the country club, only to discover a majority of the party guests caged and netted up by six out of seven of the Ant Hill Mob.

"What in heaven's name?" Penelope looked in surprise.

"Hi, Penelope!" Dum-Dum called Penelope. "You're safe now!"

"We weren't sure who the Hooded Claw was, so we had to something…" Softy sobbed.

"You morons!" Clyde scolded his men. "Did I tell you to find the Hooded Claw!? Yes! But that gives you no right to terrorize the guests! I told you he wears purple and green!"

"That's what we were looking for, though, Clyde." Pockets replied.

"Not everyone here is wearing purple and green!" Clyde continued to reprimand the rest of the Mob. "Now release them, and apologize to every single one of them!"

"Hey!" Dastardly cried as a net trapped him.

"I meant to trap you." Yak-Yak chortled.

"Let him go, Yak-Yak." Clyde raised his eyebrow.

Yak-Yak obeyed and get the net off of Dastardly. Muttley once again snickered.

"Quit laughing, Muttley." Dick scolded Muttley. "We've still got work to do, so let's go."

"See you darlings, soon!" Penelope waved goodbye to Dastardly and Muttley.

 _And so the party continues, and the Hooded Claw is still on the prowl for Penelope!_

The Hooded Claw was still looking for Penelope, but he was unsuccessful in finding her.

"Bully Brothers!" He called to his henchmen.

The Bully Brothers were flirting with two women who had on knee-length party dresses and fancy masquerade masks.

"Bully Brothers!" The sound of the Claw's voice made the Bullies' heads turn. "Get over here!"

"We've gotta go, but we'll call you ladies." The Bullies locked eyes with the two women as they left.

"Did any of you find her?" The Hooded Claw asked his thugs.

"Find who?" The Bully Brothers asked in confusion.

The Hooded Claw growled in frustration.

"So no one's found the Hooded Claw, huh?" Penelope sighed.

"I'm afraid not, Penelope." Clyde also sighed. "But we still have to keep our eyes peeled, and we will."

The minute the Hooded Claw, from a distance, recognized Penelope talking to Peter and the Ant Hill Mob, his evil grin grew bigger.

"I found her, Bully Brothers!" He informed the Bullies. "I found Penelope! And I'm about to give her and everyone else the ultimate Halloween scare…"

"You know what? I'd better just put thoughts of that nasty ole Hooded Claw and enjoy the party!" Penelope decided. "The night is still young."

"That's the spirit, Penelope!" Peter brought her close. "Indeed the night is young, so we must make the most of it while we can."

"Okay Bully Brothers, kill the lights." The Claw ordered his henchmen.

"Right, Claw."

The Bully Brothers destroyed the light and sound system with baseball bats, causing the entire country club to go black and the DJ to stop playing music. A majority of the party guests screamed in terror.

 _Now that's what I call a Halloween scare! What can our heroes do?_

"Calm down, everyone!" Priscilla tried to assure the guests. "This is no time to panic. We'll be able to find some light."

"I found some flashlights from the emergency compartment." Pat came to the ballroom with flashlights for everyone. "Take one, and I'll try to fix the lights."

"What's going on in here?!" Dastardly questioned as he and Muttley went inside the ballroom.

"There's been a blackout, Dastardly!" Zippy explained. "The lights are gone."

"But Professor Pat Pending's working on them." Clyde added. "Hopefully they should be back on soon."

"Everything alright?" Big Gruesome wondered as he and Little Gruesome ran into the ballroom.

"The party's all blacked out!" Yak-Yak laughed.

It took a bit of time, but Pat was able to fix the lighting, and the lights came back into the ballroom.

"Oh thank goodness the lights are back!" Softy cried.

"Yeah, lights…" Snoozy echoed through snores.

"Has anyone seen Penelope?" Priscilla discovered that Penelope was missing. "She suddenly disappeared."

"What!? No!" The men gasped.

"What could have happened to her!?" Peter exclaimed.

"I'm not so sure, son." Priscilla sighed in a frightened voice.

"Well we have to look for her, so it's up to us to search every place of this country club!" Clyde ordered everyone else. "Now get going!"

The party guests scattered off in opposite directions, looking for Penelope and calling her name.

"Penelope!" Pockets yelled as he looked in the kitchen.

"Penelope, are you in there!" Dastardly checked inside the haunted house.

"Penelope!" Dum-Dum opened a door and looked inside, but a woman inside the room screamed.

"Oops, sorry…"

"Penelope!" Big Gruesome looked inside a bush.

"It's no use, Clyde." Pat sighed. "Not a single one of us has seen her anywhere."

"Looks like it's up to me and my boys." Clyde muttered. "Penelope's got to be around here somewhere."

The Ant Hill Mob were searching the rooms more thoroughly in hopes of finding Penelope. They froze in their tracks when they noticed a flashlight on the ground.

"Looks like somebody dropped a flashlight." Zippy pointed his finger at the lit-up flashlight on the ground.

"Duh, you think it belongs to Penelope, Clyde?" Dum-Dum was curious.

"Beats me, Dum-Dum. But it is a possibility." Clyde shrugged. "After all, she disappeared in the dark without a trace."

"Hey! No one checked that coat closet to see if Penelope's in there!" Pockets discovered a closed coat closet behind him.

"Good call, Pockets! Quick you guys! We'd better get the closet door open, in case she's in there!"

 _Careful now, boys. Sudden scares are bound to happen in the closet._

The Ant Hill Mob formed a human chain with Clyde on the top, allowing Clyde to turn the closet doorknob and open the door.

"Penelope!" Clyde called out as he shone his flashlight all around the inside of the closet. "Are you in there?"

All the Mob could hear was the sounds of muffled yells. They pulled back the coats on the hangers and gasped when they discovered Peter tied up and gagged.

"Peter! Don't move!" Clyde told Peter as he reached up to remove his gag. "Who did this to you!?"

"The Bully Brothers did this!" Peter explained. "The Hooded Claw has Penelope again!"

"No!" The Mobsters' eyes widened in shock and fright.

"Do you know where he took her?" Clyde asked.

"I don't, but she was unconscious when I saw her in his clutches." Peter shook his head. "Now get me loose! We have to find where she is and rescue her!"


	7. Haunted House Hassle

_Elsewhere, our heroine is just starting to awaken. But where has that hooded fiend taken her?_

Penelope's eyes slowly opened, and she was feeling a bit groggy and unaware of what where she was and what was going on.

"My, what a horrible little ole dream…" Penelope groaned.

But the minute she looked around, she noticed the Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers and gasped.

"I'm not dreaming!" Penelope's eyes widened. "You did this to little ole me!"

"Right, Pitstop." The Hooded Claw sneered. "But I'm here to give you a real life nightmare you'll never forget!"

"Where am I, anyway?" Penelope demanded.

"We're in an old abandoned house on the hill." The Claw explained. "No one has lived in this house for centuries, and it's rumored to be haunted by a ghost or two."

Now Penelope really felt uneasy.

"Oh dear…" She gulped. "I've been creeped out by this house for a long time after seeing this one movie. Let's just say the ending was not pleasant."

"Your ending won't be pleasant, either, Penelope." The Hooded Claw smirked. "You won't believe what I have in store for you this Halloween night."

"Let me guess…" Penelope wondered. "You're gonna try to bake me in the oven like Hansel and Gretel."

"Good guess, but no." The Claw shook his head.

"You're gonna use me for a mad scientist experiment?"

"No."

"You're gonna do me in a witch's brew?"

"No, guess again."

"I'm gonna be thrown into one of those Iron Maidens?"

"Nope, even better than that." The Claw grabbed Penelope's arm. "Some with us, Pitstop, and you'll see…"

Moments later, Penelope was tied up, lying on her back on the floor of the house's ballroom.

"Above your head, Pitstop, is a glass chandelier that has seen better days." The Hooded Claw explained tonight's Halloween peril. "Attached to the chandelier and the rope holding it in place is a large pick in the floor. Sitting under the rope is a candle, which I will soon light up. The minute the candle burns through the rope, the glass chandelier will drop, and will crush you under its weight and leave you with more than a bunch of cuts!"

The Hooded Claw gave a full-out evil laugh after his explanation.

"Well, at least it's a better fate than the fate of the hero I saw in the movie I mentioned earlier…" Penelope commented.

Before long, the Hooded Claw took a match and lit the candle under the rope holding the chandelier in place.

"Farewell, Pitstop! Better make the most of your last Halloween while you still can!" The Claw laughed before turning to leave.

 _It looks like this will be Penelope's last Halloween! But wait a minute, it's the Ant Hill Mob and Chuggaboom, who have recently discovered Penelope's location and are hot on her trail!_

Meanwhile, the Ant Hill Mob rode up in Chuggaboom to the old abandoned house where the Hooded Claw took Penelope.

"Oh, look at that old creepy house up there, Clyde." Pockets pointed at the house.

"I know…" Clyde nodded. "No one's lived there for the longest time. But the lights are on, so maybe the Hooded Claw brought her here."

"Oh I hope not!" Softy sobbed with fear. "I don't wanna go in there! It could be haunted!"

"I don't either!" Dum-Dum shivered. "That place has ghosts in there!"

"Don't get too excited, you guys." Clyde told them. "We don't know for sure if there's ghosts in there but we don't have a choice. Penelope's in there and he have to save her!"

"Duh, I'll just wait for you outside." Dum-Dum tried to compromise with Clyde. "The rest of you can go."

"Okay, you can wait for us in the dark. In the dark, outside of this spooky place on Halloween Night…" Zippy tried to scare Dum-Dum.

"Then again, I'll go with all of you!" Dum-Dum gulped nervously as he followed the other Mobsters inside.

 _Be careful, fellas. No one's lived here in a long time, so it could be dangerous._

The Ant Hill Mob carefully tiptoed into the haunted house, looking for Penelope.

"We gotta be quick, but quiet you guys." Clyde looked at his men. "If the Hooded Claw or the Bully Brothers spot us, it'll be game over for both Penelope and all seven of us."

"That, or a ghost might hear us." Softy whimpered.

"Get it together for once, Softy." Clyde whispered in a firm voice. "There's no such things as ghosts! Now keep going!"

"Right Clyde." Softy sniffed.

The boys continued their search for Penelope through the house entry when all of a sudden, Dum-Dum felt something crawling on the back of his head. The other Mobsters looked at him with startled looks on their zombie-painted faces.

"Duh, why is everyone looking at me all scared-like?" Dum-Dum asked the other boys. "And what's crawling on my head? It tickles."

"There's a spider on your head!" Yak-Yak giggled.

"A spider?"

Dum-Dum looked in a mirror in the entrance and saw a large spider on top of his head, and his eyes widened in fear and he started quivering.

"Spider!" He screamed as he started running around. "Get it off! Get it off! Help!"

"Quiet down, you dum-dum!" Clyde scolded Dum-Dum as he swatted the spider off his head. "That hooded villain's gonna hear you."

"But there was a spider, Clyde." Dum-Dum replied. "We can't stay here! There's spiders here and there could be more scary things!"

"I said it before, and I'll say it again…" Clyde frowned. "We don't have a choice. Penelope's counting on us to get her out of here! Now let's go!"

"Duh, okay Clyde."

 _Hurry, lads! That candle's burning away at the rope, and the glass chandelier looks ready to drop!_

Back inside the ballroom of the old house, the candle was burning the rope, and the rope was just inches from snapping and dropping the chandelier on Penelope. Thankfully, Penelope had discovered pieces of a broken glass window on the ballroom floor and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to use the glass piece.

"If I can just use my foot to grab that large piece of broken glass, I just might be able to get my little ole self free." Penelope struggled to slide the glass piece toward her.

It took a bit of time, but Penelope was able to take the glass and used it to try to cut her ropes.

 _You may not have time to cut yourself free, Penelope! The chandelier's about to drop!_

The candle just finished burning through the rope holding the chandelier in place. Just as the rope snapped, the Ant Hill Mob ran in and gasped.

"Penelope's gonna get crushed and cut up by that chandelier!" Yak-Yak chuckled.

"Quick, Zippy!" Clyde barked. "Get Penelope away from the chandelier!"

"Right, Clyde!" Zippy immediately dashed off to Penelope and carried her back to them just as the chandelier fell and crashed to the ground, shattering in pieces.

 _Way to go, fellas! Penelope won't get crushed by the chandelier after all! And she had time to get herself free, after all!_

The glass piece Penelope was using succeeded in cutting her ropes. She got up and dusted herself off, relieved that she was no longer in peril.

"I'm safe!" Penelope smiled. "Thank goodness you fellas found little ole me!"

"Hey, we were doing what we had to do." Clyde grinned.

"Come on, darlings." Penelope led the Ant Hill Mob out of the ballroom. "Let's get out of this creepy house and back to the Halloween party."

"Duh, we're with you, Penelope!" Dum-Dum said as he and the others left the ballroom.

Penelope and the Mob were halfway out of the old house when suddenly, they spotted the Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers, and so they quickly hid behind a stairway.

 _What can our heroes do now? They won't be able to get anywhere with the Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers still here!_

"Don't worry, Penelope." Clyde whispered to Penelope. "We'll distract those creeps, that way you can sneak out undetected."

"Thanks, Clyde." Penelope felt thankful and comforted. "But however will you boys distract him?"

"For once I have to agree with Yak-Yak on something."

"What's that, Clyde?" Yak-Yak quietly giggled.

"That Halloween is the best time for pranks…"

The Hooded Claw and the Bullies were walking down the old house's living room, going over the glass chandelier scheme.

"Come along, Bully Brothers." The Claw told his henchmen. "We've got to see if that chandelier did its job in crushing and cutting up Penelope."

"Right, Claw." The Bully Brothers replied in unison.

The villains walked just two or three steps when a flying egg hit the Hooded Claw in the face. The egg cracked as it landed on the Claw's face and left a trail of slimy yolk on the right side of his face.

"Alright, which one of you Bully Brothers threw that egg!?" He scowled.

"What egg?" The Bully Brothers shrugged.

"The egg you threw at me, you dunces!"

"We didn't throw any eggs." The Bully Brothers were confused.

Suddenly, two more eggs flew and hit the Bully Brothers' faces, too.

"Hey, we've been egged, too!" The Bullies frowned as their eggs left yolk on their faces too.

More eggs came flying toward the Claw and the Bullies, who put their hands up to try to defend themselves and avoid getting attacked, but the eggs were cracking on them, covering them with gooey yolk.

The egg attack was coming from the Ant Hill Mob, who was trying not to chuckle as Penelope quietly, but quickly left to sneak out of the house.

 _Nice egging, Ant Hill Mob!_

"It ain't over yet." Said Clyde. "Okay you guys, that's the end of our egg grenades. Time for the next part."

"I don't know who's throwing these eggs, but when I find out, this prankster will pay dearly for this!" The Hooded Claw snarled.

Out of the blue, heavy strands of toilet paper attacked the Claw and the Bullies, knocking them to the ground. The toilet paper was coming from the Ant Hill Mob, who use using a special toilet paper gun that Pockets had.

 _That T.P. ought to teach that fiend a lesson!_

"What is going on here!?" The Hooded Claw used the toilet paper to wipe the egg yolk off himself.

"Could it be ghosts?" The Bully Brothers asked with fright.

"I don't know, but this prankster isn't getting away with messing with us!"

"Got the buckets of glue ready?" Clyde whispered to his boys.

"We sure do, but what's it for?" Zippy whispered back.

"You'll see…"

The Mobsters poured buckets of glue from the top rail, covering the Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers in it.

"Oh, yuck! I just had this uniform dry-cleaned!" The Hooded Claw was getting furious. "That tears it! We'll find that prankster and finish him once and for all!"

"Claw, control yourself." The Bully Brothers tried to hold him back. "Remember, your blood pressure."

"Now for the finishing touch." Clyde gave a signal to the other Mobsters.

After nodding their approval, they threw what looked like a bomb on the living room floor, catching the villains' attention.

"A bomb!" The Bully Brothers cried as they picked up the bomb and gave it to the Claw. "Here boss, you take it."

"No, you clods take it!" The Hooded Claw handed the bomb back.

"Please, boss." The Bullies pleaded, handing the bomb back to the Claw.

"Absolutely not!"

Just then, the bomb exploded on all three villains, and they were covered in white feathers.

"Blast…" The Hooded Claw muttered.

 _The Ant Hill Mob's Halloween prank war worked! The Hooded Claw is vanquished, and Penelope made it out of this creepy place, safe and sound!_

Penelope had snuck out of the house through the backway, catching her breath and smiling to herself.

"I made it!" She cried merrily. "I'm once again safe! Now I can get back to the Halloween party and meet the Ant Hill Mob there, just like I planned."

As she took a few more steps toward the road, she paused and looked around.

"But which way is the way back to the country club?" She wondered.

"You won't be going back, Pitstop!"

Penelope turned around and gasped. The Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers, covered in glue and feathers, surrounded her. Penelope felt a giggle escape her lips, and it turned into hysterical laughter.

"Sorry Claw, but I can't take you and the Bully Brothers seriously in those chicken costumes!" She kept laughing hard.

"By the time I'm through with you, Pitstop, we'll see who's laughing." The Hooded Claw scowled, taking Penelope's arm and walking her back towards the house.

The Ant Hill Mob saw Penelope being hauled back to the old house. Their presence caught the Hooded Claw's attention.

"So you're responsible for those pranks you pulled on me and my henchmen."

The Bully Brothers each picked up one half of the Mob and looked at them menacingly.

"The minute we return inside, we'll make you pint-sized pests think twice before foiling my evil plans!" The Claw hissed at the Mob.

 _Oh no! Looks like it's all over for our heroes!_

The minute the Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers, with Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob in tow, came back inside the house, they froze in their tracks at what they saw.

There in the entrance stood Peter Perfect, who was ready to confront the Claw and the Bullies.

"Not so fast, you villain!"

"You! Didn't we lock you up!?" The Hooded Claw glared.

"You're forgetting something, Claw." Peter replied. "Any friend of Penelope is a friend of mine."

"He's right you know, Claw." Penelope commented.

"Shut up!" The Claw snapped.

"Now I'm warning you, Claw…" Peter was getting defensive. "Let Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob go, and don't you dare lay a hand on them, or else!"

"Or else what, Count Pesk-ula?" The Hooded Claw jeered.

Out of the blue, the lights went out and doors and floors started creaking.

"Quick Bully Brothers, get me a light!" The Claw ordered his men.

"Right Claw." The Bully Brothers gave their boss a flashlight.

Once again, the doors and floors started to creak, and the villains heard the sounds of a ghost moaning loudly.

"What is going on here?" The Hooded Claw shivered.

A ghost slowly came out from below the floor and faced the Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers, who still had a hold of Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob.

"Boo!" The ghost said.

The Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers screamed with terror, letting Penelope and the Mob go in their panic. Penelope and the Mobsters stood back up and went to Peter's side, watching the villains try to escape in fear.

Muttley, still in his werewolf guise, came out from under the couch, growling and snarling at the Claw and Bullies. The Hooded Claw grabbed a stick and tried to swat at Muttley the werewolf, but his used his strong teeth to bite at the stick, tearing it in half.

A skeleton came laughing out of the closet, coming up to the shivering villains.

"Did someone order room service? I got your ribs!" The skeleton joked.

"Um, no thanks!" The Claw turned back around to leave, but was confronted by Dick Dastardly in his evil clown guise.

Dick gave a creepy evil laugh in the Claw and Bullies' faces, terrifying them.

"This place is haunted after all!" The Hooded Claw gathered his henchmen. "Let's get out of here!"

As all three of them ran away, but a large green dragon breathed fire on the villains' rears, making them jump out of the door and into a pond. Unfortunately for them, a swamp creature emerged from the pond and roared at them, causing them to leave the pond.

The Hooded Claw and his minions kept running when all of a sudden, The Gruesome Twosome popped out from behind a tree and terrified them.

"Go away!" Little Gruesome menaced them.

"Don't come back!" Big Gruesome came up to them, ready to eat them, or do something much worse.

"My plan exactly." The Claw was petrified and out of breath at that point. "Let's leave, Bully Brothers!"

"Mommy!" The Bully Brothers cried as they ran away with the Claw.

 _Alas, the Hooded Claw has been defeated! All thanks to a good Halloween scare!_

Penelope went to embrace the Ant Hill Mob, Peter, Muttley, Dastardly and the Gruesomes in a group hug when they got out of the old house.

"We're saved!" Penelope couldn't contain her excitement. "The Ant Hill Mob and I are saved, and it's all thanks to such wonderful friends!"

"Yeah, I got a good kick out of scaring another villain!" Dick laughed.

"Yes, Dastardly, and you were amazing!" Penelope complimented. "You were all amazing at your Halloween prank on the Hooded Claw! He deserved it for sure!"

"I'm assuming the ghost, skeleton and swamp creature are friends of yours, Gruesomes?" Pockets asked the Gruesomes?"

"Yes, indeed." Big Gruesome nodded.

"Our little friends love to come out this time of year." Little Gruesome high-fived his ghost friend.

"How did those lights come off?" Dum-Dum scratched his head.

"All special effects and lighting are a courtesy of yours truly!" Professor Pat Pending's voice caught everyone's attention.

"Professor, y'all were fabulous at it!" Penelope praised the professor.

""I just knew my technical skills would come in handy for an occasion like this!" Pat chuckled.

"Come on everyone!" Penelope told her friends. "Let's get out of this evil place and head back to the Halloween party!"

"Yeah!" The others agreed.


	8. A Happy Halloween Ending!

_Now that the Hooded Claw has been defeated and now that Penelope is saved once again, our heroes return to the Halloween party!_

After Peter parked his red convertible in the country club parking lot and the Ant Hill Mob parked Chuggaboom in the same parking lot, Penelope and her companions excitedly ran back inside the country club.

"Priscilla!" Penelope called. "Priscilla, we're back!"

"Penelope's safe!" Dum-Dum shouted with joy.

Out into the country club entry came Priscilla, who was grateful and relieved that Penelope, Peter and the others made it back unharmed.

"Penelope, Peter!" She cried in delight as she hugged Penelope, Peter and their friends. "Thank heavens you dears are all safe!"

"Indeed we're safe, Priscilla." Penelope grinned. "The Hooded Claw's been vanquished again! We won't have to worry about him for the rest of the little ole night."

"Dastardly, Muttley, Professor Pat Pending, the Gruesomes and their monster friends scared the Hooded Claw away so they could save both Penelope and us, too!" Zippy told Priscilla.

"Sounds like quite an adventure you had." Priscilla commented. "Let's go back to the ballroom and I'll let everyone tell me all about it."

After the went back to the ballroom, Penelope and her friends told Priscilla about the Hooded Claw's glass chandelier peril at the old abandoned house on the hill, how the Ant Hill Mob saved her, how the Ant Hill Mob was able to distract the Claw and the Bully Brothers with their prank war, how Penelope and the Mob were recaptured, and about how Peter and the rest of the team rescued them and succeeded in frightening the Hooded Claw and the Bullies to teach them a lesson.

"My goodness, you certainly endure so many dangers and perils!" Priscilla was surprised at Penelope and her pals' story. "It's just not healthy."

"Tell me about it." Penelope nodded. "One thing for sure, there will come a day when the Hooded Claw is vanquished for good and I'll never have to deal with his perils anymore. I'm already looking forward to that little ole day, whenever it will be."

"All that matters, Penelope, is that you're safe." Peter held her close and softly kissed her head.

"Yes, and it's all thanks to my beloved little ole friends! I couldn't have escaped the Hooded Claw's clutches without them."

Then Penelope took one last look at her friends and the party guests.

"Now that I'm back, shall we get this little party started again?"

The party guests cheered

"Alright!" Penelope grinned. "Professor, work those little ole lights! DJ, let's get some tunes jamming!"

"With pleasure, Penelope!" Pat dashed back into the projection room to work the lights and special effects.

The DJ turned on some upbeat Halloween music and the party guests were able to dance and groove to the music again. Penelope got herself a drink of fruit punch and watched the party going on, happy and positive that the party would run smoothly with no more interruptions.

"Pretty Penny? What's on your mind?" Peter wondered as he went to her side.

"Oh, not too much." Penelope replied. "It's just that I'm glad to see everyone having fun again."

"So am I, Penelope." Peter agreed.

"Us, too." Clyde's voice caught Penelope and Peter's attention.

The Ant Hill Mob could hear what Penelope and Peter were saying and went to them, too.

"The Hooded Claw might have tried to get in our way, but it still turned out to be a great Halloween." Clyde said.

"No doubt about it." Penelope nodded. "I know good always triumphs over evil, but do you know what else does?"

"Duh, your escape skills?" Pockets guessed.

"Nope, guess again." Penelope shook her head.

"Love!" Pockets snapped his fingers.

"Yes!" Penelope smiled. "It's both love and friendship! And the love we share and our friendship always has, and always will, triumph over the Hooded Claw's evil! I couldn't ask for a better support system than the one I have with my dear friends!"

Penelope and Peter bent down to share a group hug with the Ant Hill Mob.

 _And so a Happy Halloween it is for Penelope, Peter, the Ant Hill Mob and all their pals!_

Elsewhere, the Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers, still covered in glue and feathers, were deep in the woods in the area the old abandoned house was. The Bully Brothers will shivering and whimpering in terror after being scared by the Gruesomes, their monster friends, Dastardly, and Muttley. The Hooded Claw, however, was angered by his defeat.

 _But the Hooded Claw's Halloween, on the other hand, is not so happy._

"Of course my Halloween's not happy, wide guy." The Hooded Claw scowled. "We're stranded in the woods, we've got unflattering chicken feathers stuck to us, and I'm stuck taking care of those yellow-bellied Bully Brothers!"

His glare soon turned into an evil grin.

"But once the sun's up and the witching hour is over, I'll find my way out of these woods and get rid of pesky Penelope Pitstop!"

He gave a full-out, evil laugh, but then he frowned again after some laughing squirrels threw acorns at him.

 **The End!**


End file.
